Choosing a greener mobile phone gets easier

Vodafone is introducing an Eco Rating scheme for mobile phones to provide its customers with information on the environmental impact and ethical performance involved in the manufacture and life cycle of many mobile phones. The ratings will be displayed alongside the phones participating in the ratings in its stores from 12 September. The scheme was also launched in New Zealand by Vodafone.

The Eco Rating label for mobile phones will be presented in an easy-to-understand score of one to five, where five is the most sustainable. Each phone’s rating includes an assessment of environmental impacts - like carbon emissions and how much water is used in manufacturing - and ethical factors, such as labour policies and health and safety practices for people assembling the phones. Ratings are higher for mobiles that contain less hazardous materials, are easy to recycle, have a longer battery life and follow high standards of manufacturing health and safety.

Manufacturers Huawei, HTC, LG, Nokia, Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung and Sony are participating in Vodafone’s Eco Rating initiative. The manufacturers are required to answer over 200 questions. The questions were selected based on research on the life cycle of a mobile phone, input from its customers and stakeholders on the issues that are most important to them, international sustainability initiatives in the electronic industry including GeSI, and based on guides from environmental groups including Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics.

Initially launched by the Vodafone Group in the Netherlands last December, the rating scheme has been well received in the European markets. Consumers in Australia are used to various ratings such as those on whitegoods and some food products but have a hard time finding out environmental information on phones. The ratings are therefore designed to fill the gap by providing this information to consumers.

Allison Murray, Head of Sustainability at Vodafone, said the company has for some time had a code of ethical purchasing with its suppliers signing up to meeting specific environmental and human rights conditions. This has been happening behind the scenes and now the Eco Rating is an extension of this and makes the information available to its customers. “We think it’s important to provide this information to help customers make an informed decision when it comes to buying their next mobile phone,” said Murray.

There are three categories that comprise the Eco Rating score: green design, mobile phone life cycle and company performance. Murray said with the green design phase, scores are higher for mobiles that include features such as being made with recycled plastics, handsets that have special energy-saving modes and smart charging systems and are free from hazardous chemicals.

The mobile phone life cycle category gives the environmental impact of each mobile phone throughout its lifetime, from the extraction of raw materials that make the phone, to production, transport, use and disposal. Scores are higher for mobiles that have a smaller impact on the environment.

Company performance shows the manufacturer’s commitment to managing environmental and ethical issues in its operations and in its supply chain. Questions focus on the company’s management standards, policies and procedures; points are awarded for practices that go beyond legal requirements and Vodafone’s ethical standards for suppliers.

Eco Rating scores are calculated by independent experts Bureau Veritas and SKM Enviros and the scoring methodology is assured by KPMG.