Recycled donated Vodafone handsets to benefit its Foundation
From the beginning of this year, Vodafone is donating all the income it generates from the old phone handsets that its customers donate to the Vodafone Foundation Instant Network. The charity was set up to bring communications back to disaster-hit areas, to help aid agencies communicate and people affected by the disaster to get in touch with friends and family members.
Customers can drop off unwanted phones in-store, or send them to Freepost Vodafone Recycling.
Donated phones can be refurbished and re-sold in lower income countries “where the cost of new phones is prohibitive and landlines are scarce”. Handsets that can not be re-used are recycled. The company aims to reuse or recycle 300,000 phones each year.
You can see the Vodafone Foundation Instant Network in action in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.
Top image: mobile phones by Bakalusha on Shutterstock.com