Nokia, technology firms team up to reduce pollution

Nokia and other mobile industry players have agreed on measures to reduce pollution from the manufacture and disposal of mobile phones, a Reuters report said.

 

The Reuters report said the group has agreed to reduce energy consumption, stop using some hazardous materials, improve the amount of phones collected through take-back schemes and recycled, and give consumers more environmental information about products, according to a Nokia statement.

 

'It is important that the mobile industry continues to provide ways for customers to return unwanted mobile phones,' Charlotte Grezo, Vodafone director for corporate responsibility, said in a statement.

 

The voluntary group also includes companies and brands such as Motorola , Matsushita Electric Industrial's Panasonic, France Telecom, TeliaSonera and Intel.

 

The efforts are part of a pilot project in partnership with the European Commission. In a similar move, French retailer Carrefour and other manufacturers agreed to make a type of wooden garden chair more environmentally friendly with design changes, the Reuters report said.