New Delhi: When the world’s leading handset maker Nokia Oyj surveyed 6,500 people in 13 countries last year, it found that only 3% mobile phone users recycled their phones.
Globally, half of those surveyed did not even know mobile phones could be recycled; India was the worst offender with only 17% awareness, followed by Indonesia at 29%. Awareness was highest in the UK at 80%, and 66% in Finland and Sweden.
Give and take: The Take Back campaign will go national in six-nine months.
With nearly 124 million mobile phones sold in India in the last calendar year alone, around 24% more than in the previous year, and an average phone replacement cycle of 24-30 months, the estimated number of unused phones that were likely not being recycled led handset manufacturer Nokia India Pvt. Ltd to launch the Take Back campaign in the country.
“If people no longer need their mobile devices or accessories, they can simply drop their old handsets into (one of the) 1,300 bins placed at Nokia care centres and Nokia priority dealers across the country,” says Pranshu Singhal, India environmental manager for Nokia India. And for every handset deposited in the bins, Nokia will plant a tree, adds Ambrish Bakaya, director of corporate affairs at the company. “The handsets can be of any make or brand and in any condition,” he adds.
The company’s pilot awareness campaign was conducted over 45 days, from 1 January to 15 February, in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Ludhiana and Bangalore. “We have so far collected over three tonnes of e-waste, including 68,000 pieces of old devices and accessories. This includes 10,000 phones, 10,000 batteries, 32,000 chargers and 16,000 headsets, body covers and other accessories,” says Bakaya. “Material is still coming in as the bins will remain a permanent fixture.”
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