News 2002
Virgin Mobile goes Green and helps Red Cross
01/10/2002
Virgin Mobile, the UK’s fastest-growing network, has today joined Fonebak, the national mobile phone recycling scheme from Shields Environmental. Virgin Mobile has made the scheme as simple as possible for consumers, with recycling envelopes available from Virgin Megastores, V.SHOPs and direct from the Virgin Mobile call centre. And for every phone that is reused, Virgin Mobile will give £5 to the British Red Cross for its work in the UK and abroad.
There are an estimated 44 million mobile phones in circulation in the UK today, with about 77% of the population owning at least one phone. Consequently, 15 million mobile handsets are replaced each year – which equates to some 1500 metric tonnes of potential landfill. This is the equivalent of burying a World War II naval destroyer, or six Mir space stations! So what happens to old mobile phones when they are replaced?
The answer at the moment tends to be at the back of a cupboard or in a kitchen drawer, or worst of all, in the bin. Mobile phones contain a number of substances including precious metals and some hazardous materials that if disposed of incorrectly can cause serious environmental damage.
Virgin Mobile is inviting customers of any network to visit a Virgin Megastore or a V.SHOP to pick up a recycling envelope, or to call the Virgin Mobile call centre, in which case an envelope will be posted to them. They then simply put their mobile phone minus the SIM, with any chargers or accessories they have, into the envelope, and send it freepost to Fonebak, who take care of the rest – it couldn’t be simpler!
If the mobile is beyond repair, it will be properly dealt with using the latest, most environmentally safe treatment. The plastic from the phone may end up as a traffic cone, the metal might become a saucepan or copper pipe, and other materials might even be used to make a new mobile phone.
However, since the best form of recycling is reuse, the new national Foneback scheme repairs and/or refurbishes phones wherever possible and puts them back into circulation. Working phones are then redistributed to developed and developing countries around the world.
For every mobile phone which is reused in this way, Virgin Mobile will make a £5 donation to the British Red Cross.
Virgin Mobile’s Sir Richard Branson said: “Old, unwanted mobile phones are a gross waste of materials and resources, and can harm the environment if disposed of in the wrong way. It’s all too easy to simply chuck an old phone out with the rubbish, potentially causing harm, and wasting still-valuable resources. Now, thanks to Foneback, consumers can do some good with their old mobiles. Call us up, or visit one of our stores for an envelope, and Virgin Mobile will make sure the phone is reused or recycled properly. We will also donate £5 to the British Red Cross by way of thanks for our customers’ efforts, for their work in the UK and abroad.”
