Partnership Initiatives

Operator, manufacturer and other take-back schemes exist in more than 85 countries (June 2008). Map assembled from information from public sources. Not all schemes may provide full national coverage.

There are many voluntary industry initiatives as well as partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organisations examining environmental impacts of mobile phones. In this section we describe some of the major activities.

Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative

The 1989 Basel Convention regulates the transboundary movements of hazardous and other wastes and obliges its Parties to ensure that such wastes are managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. Created in 2002 within the framework of the Basel Convention is the Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative (MPPI), which aims to address the issue of environmentally sound management of end-of-life mobile phones.

Under the MPPI five technical guidelines (awareness raising on design considerations, collection of used and end-of-life mobile phones, transboundary movement of collected mobile phones, refurbishment of used mobile phones, and material recovery/recycling of end-of-life mobile phones) were developed. The Initiative’s participants include many nations, their environment agencies, network operators, phone manufacturers, material recyclers, NGOs, international trade organisations and collection companies. Many GSMA members have contributed significantly to the working groups, see the list of industry partners in the environment facts box on this page.

A particular area of debate is on the applicability of the Basel Convention to electronic products that have been evaluated as suitable for reuse in the destination country. As an alternative to regulation, the industry’s preferred approach to dealing with the transboundary movement of used mobile phones is to follow the MPPI’s Voluntary Notification Procedure. This applies to those used mobile phones destined for reuse possibly after repair, refurbishment or upgrading which are not considered hazardous waste under the Basel Convention, and is used on an interim basis to ensure transparency and promote environmentally sound management. Self-regulatory approaches involving declarations of compliance with follow-up audit procedures are common in telecommunications policy and standards issues. It will require work on the part of the mobile industry to show environmental regulators that they can also apply these to mobile phones destined for reuse. The guidelines were provisionally adopted by the Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2006 and are going for final adoption in 2008.

Integrated Product Policy Pilot Project on Mobile Phones

On 18th June 2003, the Commission adopted a Communication on Integrated Product Policy (IPP). All products cause environmental degradation in some way, whether from their manufacturing, use or disposal. IPP seeks to minimise these by looking at all phases of a products' life-cycle and taking action where it is most effective. The Commission selected two voluntary pilot projects (one on mobile phones and one on a tropical wooden garden chair) from 22 suggestions to demonstrate how IPP can work in practice.

The IPP Pilot Project on Mobile Phones is now at its fifth stage where stakeholders are implementing commitments to improve the environmental impact of mobile phones. The previous stages analysed the environmental impact of mobile phones throughout their life cycle, identified options to reduce the impacts, evaluated the social and economic effects of the identified options and in the fourth stage the stakeholders committed to take certain actions.

StEP - Solving the E-Waste Problem

StEP is an initiative of various UN organizations with the overall aim to solve the e-waste problem. Together with prominent members from industry, governments, international organizations, NGOs and the science sector actively participating in StEP, it initiates and facilitates approaches towards the sustainable handling of e-waste.

In five Task Forces feasible, just and environmentally safe solutions for the e-waste problem are developed through analysis, planning and pilot projects. A number of mobile industry companies are contributing to StEP Task Forces.

GeSI - the Global e-Sustainability Initiative

GeSI was formed in 2001 and is a global partnership of information and communications technology (ICT) companies that promotes technologies for a sustainable development. In alliance with GeSI’s Secretariat, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), GeSI supports companies and institutions across the ICT industry, including manufacturers, network operators, service providers, trade associations and associate organisations connected to the industry.

GeSI’s activities address a range of issues that intersect the ICT industry and sustainable development sectors. It has work groups addressing the following thematic areas: Supply Chain; Climate Change; Accountability; eWaste; Materiality and Sustainability Forum.