What you need to know
- A new Eco rating label has been unveiled for smartphones being sold in Europe.
- Smartphones will have an overall rating based on several different factors.
- The new label will begin appearing in June on phones from Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, and more.
Several European telecom companies have banded together to launch a new Eco Rating label for smartphones. The new label will be used to show consumers how eco-friendly the smartphones they buy are. This should make it easy for environmentally conscious consumers to make more informed decisions about smartphone purchases.
The initiative results from a collaboration between Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, Telia Company, and Vodafone.
Building a more sustainable future is our joint responsibility, so we believe the time is right to drive a harmonised, industry-wide Eco Rating Scheme that will improve transparency and help raise awareness of the environmental impact of the phones that our customers choose.
The new rating system will consist of several different values; durability, reparability, recyclability, climate efficiency, and resource efficiency. Based on the assessment of each value, individual smartphones will receive an overall Eco Rating score with a maximum of 100. The system will evaluate smartphones from production to end-of-life, assessing how easy it is to dispose of the materials used to build the device.
The smartphone OEMs involved make some of the best Android phones available, such as Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, and more.
Samsung, the largest Android manufacturer, recently launched its own eco-friendly program called Galaxy Upcycling, which can extend the life of unused smartphones from the Galaxy S9 to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. The program aims to reduce waste involved with disposing of old smartphones by giving them new IoT uses. For anyone interested, we can show you how to turn your old Samsung phone into a smart home sensor through SmartThings.
The new Eco Rating will launch in June in 24 countries across Europe.
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