Samsung Embraces Mobile Recycling Initiative
Monday, July 22, 2019 - 15:21:27
South Korean smartphone maker Samsung has thrown its weight behind a new scheme launched in the Netherlands to promote and encourage mobile phone recycling while still making sure that customers are willing to buy new handsets.
Digital Trends reports that by working with network provider T-Mobile, Samsung will be promising to collect and recycle old handsets for every new device that finds its way into users’ pockets.
Unlike some mobile recycling projects, this does not mean that people have to bring in their unwanted devices to be recycled when they upgrade. Instead Samsung will effectively be sponsoring schemes in developing countries, where a lot of the West’s e-waste ends up.
Electronic waste is not just a problem in places like the UK but also in a number of African nations where mobile ownership levels are high and a lot of devices are discarded when they are no longer usable. Samsung’s aim is to make sure that there are enough recycling facilities in these far-flung countries so that consumers there have a choice about how their phone is processed.
For the time being only one device will be eligible for this recycling offset scheme. The Samsung Galaxy S10e is a high-end handset and will be sold to Dutch customers through T-Mobile, ideally appealing to those who are worried about the sustainability of their smartphone shopping habits and want to make sure that they are doing their bit to deal with e-waste issues internationally.
Since close to 90 per cent of a mobile phone’s materials can be recycled after it has reached the end of its usable lifespan, it makes sense for every handset to be collected and processed sustainably rather than simply sent to landfill, where it will end up posing a threat to the environment.
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