CINXE.COM

<!doctype html><html lang="en-US"> <head> <script type="text/javascript" src=https://cdn.cookielaw.org/consent/3f6936fe-3bf6-45fc-bb03-834e523bab1a/OtAutoBlock.js></script> <script src=https://cdn.cookielaw.org/consent/3f6936fe-3bf6-45fc-bb03-834e523bab1a/otSDKStub.js type="text/javascript" data-domain-script="3f6936fe-3bf6-45fc-bb03-834e523bab1a"></script> <script type="text/javascript">if (window.VFUK) window.VFUK.isOneTrustUpdated = '3f6936fe-3bf6-45fc-bb03-834e523bab1a';else window.VFUK = { isOneTrustUpdated: '3f6936fe-3bf6-45fc-bb03-834e523bab1a' };</script> <script src="//tags.tiqcdn.com/utag/vodafone/uk-main/prod/utag.sync.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">(function(a,b,c,d){a='//tags.tiqcdn.com/utag/vodafone/uk-main/prod/utag.js'; b=document;c='script';d=b.createElement(c);d.src=a;d.type='text/java'+c;d.async=true;a=b.getElementsByTagName(c)[0];a.parentNode.insertBefore(d,a);})();</script> <meta name="ahrefs-site-verification" content="62f2126b0514b027a1945a9e6c6ed78733c08191659ccc1c91e405e234871d4d"> <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-NQJZV3G');</script> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no"> <meta name='robots' content='index, follow, max-image-preview:large, max-snippet:-1, max-video-preview:-1' /><title>How your old smartphone is recycled into a new one</title><meta name="description" content="Simply throwing away your old smartphone would be a terrible e-waste of potential - recycling it can save valuable materials for reuse." /><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/" /><meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" /><meta property="og:type" content="article" /><meta property="og:title" content="How your old smartphone is recycled into a new one" /><meta property="og:description" content="Simply throwing away your old smartphone would be a terrible e-waste of potential - recycling it can save valuable materials for reuse." /><meta property="og:url" content="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Vodafone UK News Centre" /><meta property="article:publisher" content="https://www.facebook.com/vodafoneUK" /><meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-10-27T12:54:15+00:00" /><meta property="article:modified_time" content="2021-10-29T14:01:25+00:00" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401.jpg" /><meta property="og:image:width" content="1259" /><meta property="og:image:height" content="839" /><meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg" /><meta name="author" content="Alan Lu" /><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /><meta name="twitter:creator" content="@VodafoneUKNews" /><meta name="twitter:site" content="@VodafoneUKNews" /><script type="application/ld+json" class="yoast-schema-graph">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/","url":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/","name":"How your old smartphone is recycled into a new one","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-27T12:54:15+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-29T14:01:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/#/schema/person/0b5c0679265fc294f0723c185b499c6b"},"description":"Simply throwing away your old smartphone would be a terrible e-waste of potential - recycling it can save valuable materials for reuse.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/#primaryimage","url":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401.jpg","contentUrl":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401.jpg","width":1259,"height":839,"caption":"Recycling smartphone earth graphic"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News Centre Home","item":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Smart Living","item":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Lifestyle","item":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Reducing e-waste: How your old smartphone can be recycled"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/#website","url":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/","name":"Vodafone UK News Centre","description":"The latest news from Vodafone UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/#/schema/person/0b5c0679265fc294f0723c185b499c6b","name":"Alan Lu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/#/schema/person/image/","url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/977fb25bdc98337a312f5a72ddabf39e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/977fb25bdc98337a312f5a72ddabf39e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alan Lu"},"url":"https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/author/alanlu/"}]}</script><script type="text/javascript"> window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/www.vodafone.co.uk\/newscentre\/wp\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=0e78c8b44948232a832fe116d2c05266"}}; !function(i,n){var o,s,e;function c(e){try{var t={supportTests:e,timestamp:(new Date).valueOf()};sessionStorage.setItem(o,JSON.stringify(t))}catch(e){}}function p(e,t,n){e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(t,0,0);var t=new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data),r=(e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(n,0,0),new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data));return t.every(function(e,t){return e===r[t]})}function u(e,t,n){switch(t){case"flag":return n(e,"\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f","\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200b\u26a7\ufe0f")?!1:!n(e,"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3","\ud83c\uddfa\u200b\ud83c\uddf3")&&!n(e,"\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f","\ud83c\udff4\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc62\u200b\udb40\udc65\u200b\udb40\udc6e\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc7f");case"emoji":return!n(e,"\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b","\ud83d\udc26\u200b\u2b1b")}return!1}function f(e,t,n){var r="undefined"!=typeof WorkerGlobalScope&&self instanceof WorkerGlobalScope?new OffscreenCanvas(300,150):i.createElement("canvas"),a=r.getContext("2d",{willReadFrequently:!0}),o=(a.textBaseline="top",a.font="600 32px Arial",{});return e.forEach(function(e){o[e]=t(a,e,n)}),o}function t(e){var t=i.createElement("script");t.src=e,t.defer=!0,i.head.appendChild(t)}"undefined"!=typeof Promise&&(o="wpEmojiSettingsSupports",s=["flag","emoji"],n.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},e=new Promise(function(e){i.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",e,{once:!0})}),new Promise(function(t){var n=function(){try{var e=JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(o));if("object"==typeof e&&"number"==typeof e.timestamp&&(new Date).valueOf()<e.timestamp+604800&&"object"==typeof e.supportTests)return e.supportTests}catch(e){}return null}();if(!n){if("undefined"!=typeof Worker&&"undefined"!=typeof OffscreenCanvas&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&URL.createObjectURL&&"undefined"!=typeof Blob)try{var e="postMessage("+f.toString()+"("+[JSON.stringify(s),u.toString(),p.toString()].join(",")+"));",r=new Blob([e],{type:"text/javascript"}),a=new Worker(URL.createObjectURL(r),{name:"wpTestEmojiSupports"});return void(a.onmessage=function(e){c(n=e.data),a.terminate(),t(n)})}catch(e){}c(n=f(s,u,p))}t(n)}).then(function(e){for(var t in e)n.supports[t]=e[t],n.supports.everything=n.supports.everything&&n.supports[t],"flag"!==t&&(n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&n.supports[t]);n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!n.supports.flag,n.DOMReady=!1,n.readyCallback=function(){n.DOMReady=!0}}).then(function(){return e}).then(function(){var e;n.supports.everything||(n.readyCallback(),(e=n.source||{}).concatemoji?t(e.concatemoji):e.wpemoji&&e.twemoji&&(t(e.twemoji),t(e.wpemoji)))}))}((window,document),window._wpemojiSettings); </script><style id='wp-emoji-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'>img.wp-smiley,img.emoji{display:inline !important;border:none !important;box-shadow:none !important;height:1em !important;width:1em !important;margin:0 0.07em !important;vertical-align:-0.1em !important;background:none !important;padding:0 !important}</style><link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-block-library-css' href='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/css/dist/block-library/style.min.css?ver=0e78c8b44948232a832fe116d2c05266' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='mpp_gutenberg-css' href='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/plugins/metronet-profile-picture/dist/blocks.style.build.css?ver=2.6.3' type='text/css' media='all' /><style id='classic-theme-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'>.wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none}</style><style id='global-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'>:root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square:1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3:4/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4:3/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2:3/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3:2/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9:16/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16:9/16;--wp--preset--color--black:#000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray:#abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white:#ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink:#f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red:#cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange:#ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber:#fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan:#7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan:#00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue:#8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue:#0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple:#9b51e0;--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple:linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange:linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red:linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--font-size--small:13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium:20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large:36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large:42px;--wp--preset--spacing--20:0.44rem;--wp--preset--spacing--30:0.67rem;--wp--preset--spacing--40:1rem;--wp--preset--spacing--50:1.5rem;--wp--preset--spacing--60:2.25rem;--wp--preset--spacing--70:3.38rem;--wp--preset--spacing--80:5.06rem;--wp--preset--shadow--natural:6px 6px 9px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--deep:12px 12px 50px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);--wp--preset--shadow--sharp:6px 6px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--outlined:6px 6px 0px -3px rgba(255,255,255,1),6px 6px rgba(0,0,0,1);--wp--preset--shadow--crisp:6px 6px 0px rgba(0,0,0,1)}:where(.is-layout-flex){gap:0.5em}:where(.is-layout-grid){gap:0.5em}body .is-layout-flex{display:flex}.is-layout-flex{flex-wrap:wrap;align-items:center}.is-layout-flex >:is(*,div){margin:0}body .is-layout-grid{display:grid}.is-layout-grid >:is(*,div){margin:0}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap:2em}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap:2em}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap:1.25em}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap:1.25em}.has-black-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important}.has-white-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important}.has-pale-pink-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important}.has-vivid-red-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important}.has-vivid-purple-color{color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important}.has-black-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important}.has-white-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important}.has-black-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important}.has-white-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color:var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background:var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important}.has-small-font-size{font-size:var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important}.has-medium-font-size{font-size:var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important}.has-large-font-size{font-size:var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size:var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap:1.25em}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap:1.25em}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap:2em}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap:2em}:root:where(.wp-block-pullquote){font-size:1.5em;line-height:1.6}</style><link rel='stylesheet' id='ye_dynamic-css' href='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/plugins/youtube-embed/css/main.min.css?ver=5.3.1' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='sage/main.css-css' href='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/dist/styles/main.css' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='mediaelement-css' href='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/mediaelementplayer-legacy.min.css?ver=4.2.17' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-mediaelement-css' href='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/wp-mediaelement.min.css?ver=0e78c8b44948232a832fe116d2c05266' type='text/css' media='all' /><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.7.1" id="jquery-core-js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=3.4.1" id="jquery-migrate-js"></script><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /><link rel='shortlink' href='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/?p=28795' /><link rel="alternate" title="oEmbed (JSON)" type="application/json+oembed" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vodafone.co.uk%2Fnewscentre%2Fsmart-living%2Flifestyle%2Freducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled%2F" /><link rel="alternate" title="oEmbed (XML)" type="text/xml+oembed" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vodafone.co.uk%2Fnewscentre%2Fsmart-living%2Flifestyle%2Freducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled%2F&format=xml" /> <meta name="onesignal" content="wordpress-plugin"/> <script>window.OneSignal = window.OneSignal || [];OneSignal.push( function() {OneSignal.SERVICE_WORKER_UPDATER_PATH = "OneSignalSDKUpdaterWorker.js.php";OneSignal.SERVICE_WORKER_PATH = "OneSignalSDKWorker.js.php";OneSignal.SERVICE_WORKER_PARAM = { scope: "/" };OneSignal.setDefaultNotificationUrl("https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp"); var oneSignal_options = {};window._oneSignalInitOptions = oneSignal_options;oneSignal_options['wordpress'] = true;oneSignal_options['appId'] = 'b7b54a8f-ee23-4cf8-b49e-2534264a0a77';oneSignal_options['allowLocalhostAsSecureOrigin'] = true;oneSignal_options['welcomeNotification'] = { };oneSignal_options['welcomeNotification']['title'] = "";oneSignal_options['welcomeNotification']['message'] = "";oneSignal_options['welcomeNotification']['url'] = "vodafone.co.uk/newscentre";oneSignal_options['path'] = "https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/plugins/archetype-onesignal-free-web-push-notifications/sdk_files/"; oneSignal_options['safari_web_id'] = "web.onesignal.auto.468a09a1-a4c0-43e5-8472-22975b523798";oneSignal_options['promptOptions'] = { };oneSignal_options['notifyButton'] = { };oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['enable'] = true;oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['position'] = 'bottom-right';oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['theme'] = 'default';oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['size'] = 'medium';oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['showCredit'] = true;oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['text'] = {};OneSignal.init(window._oneSignalInitOptions);OneSignal.showSlidedownPrompt(); });function documentInitOneSignal() {var oneSignal_elements = document.getElementsByClassName("OneSignal-prompt");var oneSignalLinkClickHandler = function(event) { OneSignal.push(['registerForPushNotifications']); event.preventDefault(); }; for(var i = 0; i < oneSignal_elements.length; i++) oneSignal_elements[i].addEventListener('click', oneSignalLinkClickHandler, false);}if (document.readyState === 'complete') {documentInitOneSignal();}else {window.addEventListener("load", function(event){documentInitOneSignal();});}</script><style type="text/css" id="wp-custom-css">.smart-living__banner-container p{font-weight:900}body.parent-category-smart-living a .category{font-weight:600}</style> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="57x57" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="114x114" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="60x60" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="76x76" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="152x152" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/favicon-196x196.png" sizes="196x196" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/images/icons/favicon-128.png" sizes="128x128" /> <meta name="application-name" content=" "/> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#FFFFFF" /> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="mstile-144x144.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-square70x70logo" content="mstile-70x70.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-square150x150logo" content="mstile-150x150.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-wide310x150logo" content="mstile-310x150.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-square310x310logo" content="mstile-310x310.png" /> <script src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/scripts/util/modernizr-custom.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/fonts/fontawesome/css/fontawesome.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/fonts/fontawesome/css/brands.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/fonts/fontawesome/css/solid.css"> </head> <body class="post-template-default single single-post postid-28795 single-format-standard reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled parent-category-smart-living app-data index-data singular-data single-data single-post-data single-post-reducing-e-waste-how-your-old-smartphone-can-be-recycled-data"> <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NQJZV3G" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <div id="meganav"></div> <section class="breadcrumb"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="dotdotdot-breadcrumb dotdotdot col-12" role="navigation"> <span><span><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/">News Centre Home</a></span> <span class="sep"><i class="chevron-right"></i></span> <span><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/">Smart Living</a></span> <span class="sep"><i class="chevron-right"></i></span> <span><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/">Lifestyle</a></span></span> </div> </div> </div></section> <div class="content "> <main class="main"> <div class="wrapper category-lifestyle mb-5"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-lg-7 article"> <p class="smart-living__pre-title">Smart Living | Lifestyle </p> <div class="smart-living__category-stripe smart-living__category-stripe-lifestyle"></div> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/lifestyle/"><span class="category first">Lifestyle</span></a> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">27 Oct 2020</date> </div> <h1> Reducing e-waste: How your old smartphone can be recycled </h1> <div class="author-line author d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center justify-content-between"> <div> <a >By Alan Lu</a> </div> <div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox"></div> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-5 col-lg-4 offset-lg-1" style="margin-top: 15px;"> <form method="get" role="search" action="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/" class="search-filter overlay-search-filter"> <div class="super-holder d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center"> <input type="text" autocomplete="off" autofocus id="text-filter" placeholder="Search News Centre"> <img class="image-search" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/dist/images/icons/search-icon.svg" border="0" alt="Submit" /> <input type="hidden" id="category-filter" value="all"> <input type="hidden" name="s" value="1"> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-12 col-md-7"> <article class="single-article"> <div class="image-container"> <figure class="featured"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401-768x512.jpg.webp 768w' media='(max-width: 768px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401-768x512.jpg 768w' media='(max-width: 768px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' media='(max-width: 550px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401-550x367.jpg 550w' media='(max-width: 550px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401.jpg.webp 1259w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401.jpg 1259w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_408912916-scaled-e1603461231401.jpg" alt="Recycling smartphone earth graphic" title="Recycling smartphone earth graphic" /></picture> </figure> </div> <div class="wp-caption featured-caption"> <div class="wp-caption-text"> <div class="caption-photographer category text-right">Credits: Shutterstock</div> </div> </div> <div class="content"> <h2>Smartphones contain metals and other materials that could be in increasingly short supply unless we recycle more. </h2> <p>Unwrapping and getting to grips with a new smartphone is so exciting that it’s easy to forget about your old one.</p><p>What should you do with it?</p><p>Those that are too old or damaged to be <strong><a href="https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/press-release/brits-miss-out-on-6-9bn-of-potential-savings-by-not-trading-in-their-phones/">traded in</a></strong> or refurbished and donated to <strong><a href="https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/news/2400-people-helped-by-great-british-tech-appeal/">a worthwhile cause</a> </strong>can be recycled. Because simply throwing them away would be a huge waste and environmentally damaging.</p><p>E<span style="font-size: 1.25rem;">very phone contains a treasure trove of precious metals and recyclable materials, many of which are </span>non-renewable. This means they will eventually run out, unless we get better at recycling.</p><p>And some of these metals are mined by workers in current or former war zones, so their working conditions can be exploitative and dangerous. The extraction and subsequent processing of these conflict zone resources, as they’re known, into a form suitable for use in a smartphone can be environmentally damaging and energy intensive.</p><p>It therefore makes environmental, ethical and financial sense to recycle more.</p><h3>What a smartphone is made of</h3><div style="width: 1920px;" class="wp-video"><video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-28795-1" width="1920" height="1080" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/app/uploads/2020/10/0019-E-Waste-October_2020-Online-V4-169.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/app/uploads/2020/10/0019-E-Waste-October_2020-Online-V4-169.mp4">https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/app/uploads/2020/10/0019-E-Waste-October_2020-Online-V4-169.mp4</a></video></div><p>Although the exact contents of each make of phone will vary, these major elements are common to most.</p><p><strong>Aluminium and glass</strong> – both are often used in the casings of many smartphones, especially more expensive models. Glass is, of course, also used on almost all smartphone screens.</p><p><strong>Plastic</strong> – commonly found in speakers and often used in the casings of cheaper smartphones.</p><p><strong>Cobalt and lithium</strong> – batteries wouldn’t work without these two metals. Cobalt is also sometimes used as a protective coating on microscopic copper wires. Usable cobalt is only found on earth as part of copper or nickel ores though, from which it must be extracted. The difficulty in mining and extracting cobalt, along with high demand for it, makes it especially valuable.</p><p><strong>Copper</strong> – as copper conducts electricity, it is found on motherboards, in ‘wireless’ charging coils and in charging plugs.</p><p><strong>Tin</strong> – because of its anti-corrosive properties, tin is used as solder to bind microchips and other components to the smartphone’s motherboard. Tin has almost entirely replaced lead in consumer electronics as solder, as it’s far less toxic. Tin is also often found in magnets and corrosion-resistant coatings.</p><p><strong>Gold and tantalum</strong> – both are highly valued for their efficiency at conducting electricity and resistance to corrosion and tarnishing. Tantalum is essential as it is used in the capacitors and resistors on a phone’s motherboard to regulate the flow of electricity.</p><p><strong>Tungsten</strong> – an extremely durable material, tungsten is used to protect electrical contacts as well as to make lighting filaments and vibration motors.</p><h3>How to recycle a smartphone</h3><p>In an average year, approximately 94% of the smartphones returned to Vodafone will be refurbished and resold as second-hand units. Vodafone sends the rest to its accredited specialist partners for recycling.</p><p>Smartphones should be dismantled into their constituent components before recycling, as opposed to simply shredding them to small pieces, as this increases the amount of extracted material that can be reused.</p><p><span style="font-size: 1.25rem;">This disassembly work is usually done by hand, although some smartphone manufacturers are developing robots that can do the job. The level of disassembly required will vary depending on the design of the handset.</span></p><p>Some smartphones are designed with this in mind, such as <strong><a href="https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/consumer/new-fairphone-3-now-available/">the Fairphone 3</a></strong>, which is very easy to dismantle.</p><figure id="attachment_28851" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28851" style="width: 672px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-28851" src="https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-768x768.jpg" alt="Fairphone 3 front and back" width="672" height="672" srcset="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-550x550.jpg 550w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-1115x1115.jpg 1115w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-24x24.jpg 24w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-48x48.jpg 48w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-96x96.jpg 96w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/fp3p_front-view_2.jpg 1256w" sizes="(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-28851" class="wp-caption-text" ><div class="caption-photographer category text-right">Credits: Fairphone</div>The Fairphone 3 is made with 40% recycled plastics</figcaption></figure><p>At the very least, batteries must be disassembled – not just to separate the control chips and wiring from the power cells, but also because it is essential for safety reasons. If punctured or otherwise seriously damaged, the power cells in a battery can explode or catch fire.</p><p>Once dismantled, the various smartphone components are fed into furnaces where the precise application of high heat separates individual materials from one another. Different types of furnaces are used to reclaim different materials.</p><p>“While furnaces do of course use energy, it is still less than the energy required to mine and refine raw materials out of the ground,” explains Tirza Voss, Fairphone’s Sustainable Materials & Mining Manager.</p><p>“Plus, when equipped with the proper filtration and cleaning systems, they shouldn’t emit any pollutants either.”</p><p>The amount of reusable material that be recovered from any given smartphone greatly depends on the design of that phone, whether it is shredded or dismantled before recycling, and the type of furnace used.</p><figure id="attachment_28855" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28855" style="width: 768px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-28855" src="https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_1669109329-scaled-e1603801342116-768x512.jpg" alt="Smartphone components laid out on table" width="768" height="512" srcset="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_1669109329-scaled-e1603801342116-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_1669109329-scaled-e1603801342116-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_1669109329-scaled-e1603801342116-550x367.jpg 550w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_1669109329-scaled-e1603801342116-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_1669109329-scaled-e1603801342116-1672x1115.jpg 1672w, https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_1669109329-scaled-e1603801342116.jpg 1996w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" ><p class="image-photographer category text-right">Credits: Shutterstock</p><figcaption id="caption-attachment-28855" class="wp-caption-text" ><div class="caption-photographer category text-right">Credits: Shutterstock</div>Nearly 54 million metric tonnes of e-waste was generated worldwide in 2019 (Source: UN)</figcaption></figure><p>It’s also important to bear in mind that no recycling process is 100% efficient, with some material either reduced to slag during the reclamation process or reclaimed in a state too impure for reuse. In the best-case scenarios, approximately 80%-98% of the gold, copper, cobalt and tin in a smartphone can be successfully reclaimed for reuse.</p><p>Plastics are difficult to recover and are most often used as fuel for the furnaces instead.</p><blockquote><p>Approximately 80%-98% of the gold, copper, cobalt and tin in a smartphone can be successfully reclaimed for reuse</p></blockquote><p>Tungsten and tantalum are the most difficult materials to recover. Some recent smartphones have been designed to make tungsten reasonably easy to recover, once their time is up. Better recycling techniques need to be developed in order to recover usable tantalum.</p><h3>Circling back</h3><p>Although current recycling technologies and processes aren’t perfect, they can clearly reclaim significant amounts of valuable material from old smartphones for reuse in new devices.</p><p>One of the most pressing issues isn’t technology though, but awareness and willingness.</p><p>As Vodafone Group’s Joakim Reiter <strong><a href="https://www.vodafone.com/perspectives/tackling-e-waste-and-enabling-circular-economy-electronic-products?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter">explains</a></strong>, just 17.4% of all electronic waste (or e-waste) is currently collected and recycled. To date, an estimated $57bn (£44bn) worth of gold, copper and other recoverable materials are simply dumped or burned rather than recycled.</p><p>But it doesn’t have to be this way.</p><p>If smartphones can’t be refurbished and reused, they should be recycled, creating a virtuous cycle. A completely ‘circular’ economy, where new devices are made from old ones rather than materials mined out of the earth, is the ultimate aim.</p><p>The first step to that greener future starts with dropping off your old smartphone for recycling at your local Vodafone UK store, rather than throwing it away.</p><ul><li>Follow @VodafoneUKNews on <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/vodafoneuknews">Twitter</a></strong>.</li></ul> </div> </article> </div> <div class="col-md-5 col-lg-4 offset-lg-1"> <div class=""> <h3 class="category">Read more</h3> <div> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/news/vodafone-sustainability-progress-in-numbers/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/10/AdobeStock_827931738-cropped-resized-224x149.jpg.webp 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/10/AdobeStock_827931738-cropped-resized-224x149.jpg 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/10/AdobeStock_827931738-cropped-resized-550x366.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/10/AdobeStock_827931738-cropped-resized-550x366.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/10/AdobeStock_827931738-cropped-resized.jpg" alt="A hand highlighting key points on an ESG chart, set in an eco-friendly workspace." title="AdobeStock_827931738 cropped resized" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/news/vodafone-sustainability-progress-in-numbers/">Vodafone UK’s sustainability progress in numbers</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/news/"> <span class="category first"> News </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Mark Davison</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">29 Oct 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/membership-of-24-7-carbonfree-coalition/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/08/Solar-Panels-Wind-Turbines-224x149.jpg.webp 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/08/Solar-Panels-Wind-Turbines-224x149.jpg 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/08/Solar-Panels-Wind-Turbines-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/08/Solar-Panels-Wind-Turbines-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/08/Solar-Panels-Wind-Turbines.jpg" alt="Renewable energy concept: Solar panels with wind turbines in the background" title="Solar Panels & Wind Turbines" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/membership-of-24-7-carbonfree-coalition/">Vodafone joins 24/7 Carbon-Free Coalition</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/"> <span class="category first"> Press Release </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Press Office</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">25 Sep 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/features/kid-a-making-case-for-more-sustainable-smartphone-accessories/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/09/Andy-Adam-Pale-Blue-Dot-November-2023-199x149.jpg.webp 199w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/09/Andy-Adam-Pale-Blue-Dot-November-2023-199x149.jpg 199w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/09/Andy-Adam-Pale-Blue-Dot-November-2023-550x413.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/09/Andy-Adam-Pale-Blue-Dot-November-2023-550x413.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/09/Andy-Adam-Pale-Blue-Dot-November-2023.jpg" alt="Kid-A co-founders, Andy Silcock and Adam Toms, at Pale Blue Dot event in Vodafone's Speechmark office." title="Andy & Adam - Pale Blue Dot - November 2023" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/features/kid-a-making-case-for-more-sustainable-smartphone-accessories/">Kid-A makes the case for more sustainable phone accessories</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/features/"> <span class="category first"> Features </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Mark Davison</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">18 Sep 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/superb-refurb-iphone-13-pro-evo/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/07/Apple_iPhone-13-Pro_New-Camera-System_09142021-1-224x149.jpg.webp 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/07/Apple_iPhone-13-Pro_New-Camera-System_09142021-1-224x149.jpg 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/07/Apple_iPhone-13-Pro_New-Camera-System_09142021-1-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/07/Apple_iPhone-13-Pro_New-Camera-System_09142021-1-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/07/Apple_iPhone-13-Pro_New-Camera-System_09142021-1.jpg" alt="illustrative image of the rear cameras on the iPhone 13 Pro as seen from the side, horizontally" title="Apple_iPhone-13-Pro_New-Camera-System_09142021 (1)" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/superb-refurb-iphone-13-pro-evo/">Superb Refurb: save £648 with a refurbished iPhone 13 Pro</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/"> <span class="category first"> Press Release </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Press Office</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">30 Jul 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/tackling-the-transition-our-uk-carbon-reduction-plan/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/10/Nicki-Lead_imageOPTIMISED-224x149.jpg.webp 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/10/Nicki-Lead_imageOPTIMISED-224x149.jpg 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/10/Nicki-Lead_imageOPTIMISED-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/10/Nicki-Lead_imageOPTIMISED-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2023/10/Nicki-Lead_imageOPTIMISED.jpg" alt="" title="Nicki-Lead_image[OPTIMISED]" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/tackling-the-transition-our-uk-carbon-reduction-plan/">Tackling the transition: Vodafone UK’s Carbon Reduction Plan</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/"> <span class="category first"> Viewpoint </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Nicki Lyons</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">17 Jul 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/device-lifecycle-management-sustainability/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2021/09/Nick_Gliddon-9913-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2021/09/Nick_Gliddon-9913-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2021/09/Nick_Gliddon-9913-scaled.jpg" alt="Nick Gliddon, Vodafone UK Business Director" title="Nick Gliddon, Vodafone UK Business Director" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/device-lifecycle-management-sustainability/">Device Lifecycle Management: Putting sustainability to work</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/"> <span class="category first"> Viewpoint </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Nick Gliddon</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">16 Jul 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/reduce-reuse-refurbished-second-hand-behaviours-on-the-rise/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/White-smartphone-with-screen-from-green-leavesAdobe-Stock-224x149.jpg.webp 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/White-smartphone-with-screen-from-green-leavesAdobe-Stock-224x149.jpg 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/White-smartphone-with-screen-from-green-leavesAdobe-Stock-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/White-smartphone-with-screen-from-green-leavesAdobe-Stock-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/White-smartphone-with-screen-from-green-leavesAdobe-Stock.jpg" alt="" title="White smartphone with screen from green leaves[Adobe Stock]" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/reduce-reuse-refurbished-second-hand-behaviours-on-the-rise/">Reduce, Reuse, Refurbished: second-hand behaviours on the rise</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/"> <span class="category first"> Press Release </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Press Office</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">22 Apr 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/how-circularity-can-help-organisations-connect-with-customers/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2022/06/NICKI-LYONS-1388-Edit-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2022/06/NICKI-LYONS-1388-Edit-scaled.jpg" alt="Nicki Lyons, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Vodafone UK" title="Nicki Lyons, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Vodafone UK" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/how-circularity-can-help-organisations-connect-with-customers/">How circularity can help organisations connect with customers</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/viewpoint/"> <span class="category first"> Viewpoint </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Nicki Lyons</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">22 Apr 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/news/new-iot-smart-water-meters-cut-water-consumption/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/Falling-Dripping-Water-DropAdobe-Stock-224x149.jpg.webp 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/Falling-Dripping-Water-DropAdobe-Stock-224x149.jpg 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/Falling-Dripping-Water-DropAdobe-Stock-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/Falling-Dripping-Water-DropAdobe-Stock-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/Falling-Dripping-Water-DropAdobe-Stock.jpg" alt="Falling Dripping Water Drop[Adobe Stock]" title="Falling Dripping Water Drop[Adobe Stock]" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/news/new-iot-smart-water-meters-cut-water-consumption/">New IoT smart water meters could cut water consumption by 15%</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/news/"> <span class="category first"> News </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Editorial Team</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">19 Apr 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> <article class="listing single-featured"> <div class="article-wrapper"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <div class="image-box"> <a class="image-container" href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/features/spring-cleaning-unwanted-tech/"> <figure class="thumbnail this"> <picture><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/1-happy-woman-with-cleaning-agent-and-phoneAdobe-Stock-224x149.jpg.webp 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/1-happy-woman-with-cleaning-agent-and-phoneAdobe-Stock-224x149.jpg 224w' media='(min-width: 0) and (max-width: 767px)'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/1-happy-woman-with-cleaning-agent-and-phoneAdobe-Stock-550x367.jpg.webp 550w' type='image/webp'/><source srcset='https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/1-happy-woman-with-cleaning-agent-and-phoneAdobe-Stock-550x367.jpg 550w' /><img src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/uploads/2024/04/1-happy-woman-with-cleaning-agent-and-phoneAdobe-Stock.jpg" alt="stock image of a woman using a smartphone while wearing rubber kitchen gloves and holding a spray bottle" title="1-happy woman with cleaning agent and phone[Adobe Stock]" /></picture> </figure> </a> </div> <h2 class="dotdotdot"><a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/features/spring-cleaning-unwanted-tech/">Spring cleaning: Three ways to reduce your e-waste</a></h2> </div> <div class="article-info-container"> <div class="author-line"> <a href="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/features/"> <span class="category first"> Features </span> </a> <span class="separator">|</span> <span class="author first"> <a >Mark Davison</a> </span> <span class="separator">|</span> <date class="date last">12 Apr 2024</date> </div> </div> </div></article> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox"></div> </div> </div> </main> </div> <script src="//assets.vodafone.co.uk/cs/groups/public/documents/js/ws2-shared-footer.min.js.js"></script><footer class="footer"></footer> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/plugins/metronet-profile-picture/js/mpp-frontend.js?ver=2.6.3" id="mpp_gutenberg_tabs-js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/dist/scripts/main.js" id="sage/main.js-js"></script><script type="text/javascript" id="mediaelement-core-js-before"> var mejsL10n = {"language":"en","strings":{"mejs.download-file":"Download File","mejs.install-flash":"You are using a browser that does not have Flash player enabled or installed. Please turn on your Flash player plugin or download the latest version from https:\/\/get.adobe.com\/flashplayer\/","mejs.fullscreen":"Fullscreen","mejs.play":"Play","mejs.pause":"Pause","mejs.time-slider":"Time Slider","mejs.time-help-text":"Use Left\/Right Arrow keys to advance one second, Up\/Down arrows to advance ten seconds.","mejs.live-broadcast":"Live Broadcast","mejs.volume-help-text":"Use Up\/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.","mejs.unmute":"Unmute","mejs.mute":"Mute","mejs.volume-slider":"Volume Slider","mejs.video-player":"Video Player","mejs.audio-player":"Audio Player","mejs.captions-subtitles":"Captions\/Subtitles","mejs.captions-chapters":"Chapters","mejs.none":"None","mejs.afrikaans":"Afrikaans","mejs.albanian":"Albanian","mejs.arabic":"Arabic","mejs.belarusian":"Belarusian","mejs.bulgarian":"Bulgarian","mejs.catalan":"Catalan","mejs.chinese":"Chinese","mejs.chinese-simplified":"Chinese (Simplified)","mejs.chinese-traditional":"Chinese (Traditional)","mejs.croatian":"Croatian","mejs.czech":"Czech","mejs.danish":"Danish","mejs.dutch":"Dutch","mejs.english":"English","mejs.estonian":"Estonian","mejs.filipino":"Filipino","mejs.finnish":"Finnish","mejs.french":"French","mejs.galician":"Galician","mejs.german":"German","mejs.greek":"Greek","mejs.haitian-creole":"Haitian Creole","mejs.hebrew":"Hebrew","mejs.hindi":"Hindi","mejs.hungarian":"Hungarian","mejs.icelandic":"Icelandic","mejs.indonesian":"Indonesian","mejs.irish":"Irish","mejs.italian":"Italian","mejs.japanese":"Japanese","mejs.korean":"Korean","mejs.latvian":"Latvian","mejs.lithuanian":"Lithuanian","mejs.macedonian":"Macedonian","mejs.malay":"Malay","mejs.maltese":"Maltese","mejs.norwegian":"Norwegian","mejs.persian":"Persian","mejs.polish":"Polish","mejs.portuguese":"Portuguese","mejs.romanian":"Romanian","mejs.russian":"Russian","mejs.serbian":"Serbian","mejs.slovak":"Slovak","mejs.slovenian":"Slovenian","mejs.spanish":"Spanish","mejs.swahili":"Swahili","mejs.swedish":"Swedish","mejs.tagalog":"Tagalog","mejs.thai":"Thai","mejs.turkish":"Turkish","mejs.ukrainian":"Ukrainian","mejs.vietnamese":"Vietnamese","mejs.welsh":"Welsh","mejs.yiddish":"Yiddish"}}; </script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/mediaelement-and-player.min.js?ver=4.2.17" id="mediaelement-core-js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/mediaelement-migrate.min.js?ver=0e78c8b44948232a832fe116d2c05266" id="mediaelement-migrate-js"></script><script type="text/javascript" id="mediaelement-js-extra"> var _wpmejsSettings = {"pluginPath":"\/newscentre\/wp\/wp-includes\/js\/mediaelement\/","classPrefix":"mejs-","stretching":"responsive","audioShortcodeLibrary":"mediaelement","videoShortcodeLibrary":"mediaelement"}; </script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/wp-mediaelement.min.js?ver=0e78c8b44948232a832fe116d2c05266" id="wp-mediaelement-js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/wp/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/renderers/vimeo.min.js?ver=4.2.17" id="mediaelement-vimeo-js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdn.onesignal.com/sdks/OneSignalSDK.js?ver=1.0.0" id="remote_sdk-js" async="async" data-wp-strategy="async"></script> <script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jQuery.dotdotdot/3.2.2/jquery.dotdotdot.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-5ddbea4d4cd94315"></script> <script src="https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/app/themes/news/resources/assets/scripts/meganav.js"></script> <script>!function(e,t,n,s,u,a){e.twq||(s=e.twq=function(){s.exe?s.exe.apply(s,arguments):s.queue.push(arguments);},s.version='1.1',s.queue=[],u=t.createElement(n),u.async=!0,u.src='https://static.ads-twitter.com/uwt.js', a=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0],a.parentNode.insertBefore(u,a))}(window,document,'script');twq('config','o7s8v');</script> <script type="text/javascript">// Insert Twitter Event ID twq('event', 'tw-o7s8v-ocd63', {});</script> </body></html>