New Years Recycle Resolution - 25 Million Mobile Phone Mountain
2006 News
December 28th, 2006
Thousands of us will have unwrapped new mobile phones this Christmas but what will we do with our old phones? The number of unused handsets in Britain today is creating a huge mobile phone mountain according to research released by The Carphone Warehouse. Mobile LifeI research has found that 37% of people simply hold onto but don’t use their old mobiles while 2.6 million people throw their unused handsets away. This means there are approximately 25 million redundant handsets in peoples’ homes gathering dust, whose batteries and components could be recycled for productive use and even raise money for worthy causes.
Government priorities, media attention and the publication of the Stern ReportII have put green issues firmly into the public spotlight and more than ever, people are wanting to recycle more and reduce their carbon footprint.
This New Year, The Carphone Warehouse has made recycling an easy resolution to keep. Simply take any unused handsets to any one of their stores or send it freepost using a recycling envelope also available in store. Every handset received will be forwarded to a recycling company who will re-use the components and materials, and will donate £10 per handset, to be shared between the charities TreeHouse and Get Connected. Since April The Carphone Warehouse has raised £100,000 through recycling and would like to multiply that this New Year.
Chief Executive, Charles Dunstone said: “I am very concerned about climate change. We are at a tipping point and everyone needs to be educated into how to help. One thing we can all do, is make a New Year’s Resolution to recycle our unused or unwanted mobiles. If we managed to recycle just 1% of our mobile phone mountain, we could raise £2.5 million for charity”.
The Carphone Warehouse support and contact centres recycle all paper, toner cartridges and cardboard. The Carphone Warehouse is also aiming to make all emissions from delivery vehicles, company cares and infrastructure ‘carbon neutral’. A process whereby emission levels are calculated and then an appropriate number of trees are planted to help compensate for the damage.
-Ends-
Editors Notes
For further information please contact:
Shane Conway at The Carphone Warehouse Press Office on 0845 604 1207
or email
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com
I Mobile Life surveyed 16,000 about the impact of the mobile phone on their daily lives. Full information on the Mobile Life Report is available at http://www.mobilelife2006.co.uk
II The economist Sir Nicholas Stern was commissioned by HM Treasury to publish a report on the effects on the Economics of Climate Change. Full information can be found at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/index.cfm
TreeHouse
The TreeHouse Trust (TreeHouse) is the national charity for autism education, based in north London and founded in 1997 by a group of parents whose children had recently been diagnosed with severe autism. TreeHouse was established in response to the huge unmet national need for specialist education for children with autism. TreeHouse’s vision is to improve, through education, the lives of children with autism and the lives of their families. The Carphone Warehouse’s fixed line service, TalkTalk works in partnership with TreeHouse and has committed to donate 1 penny from every call to its directory enquiries service to help support its work as well as introducing them into the charity partnership to offer employees the opportunity to volunteer and raise funds. TreeHouse has recently launched an appeal for £11.5 million to construct a permanent building that will enable it to increase its support of children in need of specialist education. TalkTalk is committed to helping TreeHouse to see this ambition realised.
Get Connected
Get Connected provides a free, confidential helpline that gives young people in difficult situations the support and information you need to decide what you want to happen next. It could be anything from a listening ear to somewhere safe to stay for the night. The Carphone Warehouse has maintained and developed its six year relationship with Get Connected providing accommodation, phone lines and IT support as well as offering employees the opportunity to earn extra holiday or have matched time off to volunteer. With continued support from suppliers and partners the charitable income increased to over £107,000. Employees and guests at the annual company ball raised an additional £30,000 for Get Connected’s valuable work.