ESPOO, Finland, July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Only 3% of people
recycle their mobile phones despite the fact that most have old devices
lying around at home that they no longer want, according to a global
consumer survey released by Nokia (NYSE: NOK [1]) today. Three out of every
four people added that they don't even think about recycling their devices
and nearly half were unaware that it is even possible to do so.
The survey is based on interviews with 6,500 people in 13 countries
including Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, UK, United Arab
Emirates, USA, Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia and Brazil. It was
conducted to help Nokia find out more about consumers' attitudes and
behaviors towards recycling, and inform the company's take-back programs
and efforts to increase recycling rates of unused mobile devices.
Markus Terho, Director of Environmental Affairs, Markets, at Nokia
said, "It is clear from this survey that when mobile devices finally reach
the end of their lives that very few of them are recycled. Many people are
simply unaware that these old and unused mobiles lying around in drawers
can be recycled or how to do this. Nokia is working hard to make it easier,
providing more information and expanding our global take-back programs." He
added, "If each of the three billion people globally owning mobiles brought
back just one unused device we could save 240,000 tonnes of raw materials
and reduce greenhouse gases to the same effect as taking 4 million cars off
the road. By working together, small individual actions could add up to
make a big difference."
The findings highlight that despite the fact that people on average
have each owned around five phones, very few of these are being recycled
once they are no longer used. Only 3% said they had recycled their old
phone. Yet very few old devices, 4%, are being thrown into landfill.
Instead the majority, 44%, are simply being kept at homes never used.
Others are giving their mobiles another life in different ways, one quarter
are passing on their old phones to friends or family, and 16% of people are
selling their used devices particularly in emerging markets.
Globally, 74% of consumers said they don't think about recycling their
phones, despite the fact that around the same number, 72%, think recycling
makes a difference to the environment. This was consistent across many
different countries with 88% of people in Indonesia not considering
recycling unwanted devices, 84% in India, and 78% of people in Brazil,
Sweden, Germany and Finland.
The survey revealed that one of the main reasons why so few people
recycle their mobile phones is because they simply don't know that it is
possible to do so. In fact, up to 80% of any Nokia device is recyclable and
precious materials within it can be reused to help make new products such
as kitchen kettles, park benches, dental fillings or even saxophones and
other metal musical instruments. Globally, half of those surveyed didn't
know phones could be recycled like this, with awareness lowest in India at
17% and Indonesia at 29%, and highest in the UK at 80% and 66% in Finland
and Sweden.
Mr Terho said, "Using the best recycling technology nothing is wasted.
Between 65 - 80 per cent of a Nokia device can be recycled. Plastics that
can't be recycled are burnt to provide energy for the recycling process,
and other materials are ground up into chips and used as construction
materials or for building roads. In this way nothing has to go to
landfill."
Many people interviewed for the survey, even if they were aware that a
device could be recycled, did not know how to go about doing this. Two
thirds said they did not know how to recycle an unwanted device and 71%
were unaware of where to do this.
Nokia has collection points for unwanted mobile devices in 85 countries
around the world, the largest voluntary scheme in the mobile industry.
People can drop off their old devices at Nokia stores and almost 5,000
Nokia Care Centers. To find their nearest take back point people can visit
http://www.nokia.com/werecyle [2].
Responding to the survey findings Nokia is developing a series of
campaigns and activities to give people more information on why, how and
where to recycle their old and unwanted devices, chargers and mobile
accessories. The company is also expanding its global take-back program by
adding many more collection bins and promoting these in store to raise
greater awareness.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and
growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We make a
wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people
to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games,
business mobility and more. Developing and growing our offering of consumer
Internet services, as well as our enterprise solutions and software, is a
key area of focus. We also provide equipment, solutions and services for
communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.
http://www.nokia.com [3]
