# National mobile phone recycling campaign launched

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2002/09/25/national-mobile-phone-recycling-campaign-launched/
- Published: 2002-09-25T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Charities raising funds from donated old mobile phones now face a major new player
in the market.
Fonebak is a new government-backed campaign to collect and recycle
mobile phones. It is the first mobile phone recycling scheme to have the backing
of all the network service providers and four major retail chains.

It also claims to be the first to comply with current legislation, and the forthcoming
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, which comes into force in 2003,
which sets guidelines and targets for the recycling of potentially harmful electrical
waste.

The progamme is commercial so would appear to be a competitor to those mobile phone
recycling campaigns set up by charities such as Oxfam’s Bring Bring initiative. 
However, Fonebak says that its marketing team is willing to work with charities 
and environmental organisations as well as companies to develop joint take-back 
or trade-in schemes.

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Some of the mobile operators have been running charity recycling schemes already.
Virgin Mobile donates £5 to the Red Cross for every one of its mobile phones that
is recycled, and Vodafone expects to donate £100,000 to Flora and Fauna International
by the end of 2002. Having launched its scheme in April 2002 it reports that already
700 phones a week are being recycled.

Read “Mobile mountain sparks recycling bid” at the BBC.

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