New Pan-Industry Eco Rating Scheme Launched for Mobile Phones

Five of Europe’s leading mobile operators have joined forces to update and launch a new pan-industry Eco Rating labelling scheme. It will help consumers identify and compare the most sustainable mobile phones and encourage suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of their devices.

The Eco Rating initiative has been created jointly by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, Telia and Vodafone to provide consistent, accurate information at retail on the environmental impact of producing, using, transporting and disposing of smartphones and feature phones. Eco Rating will enable operators and their customers to encourage wider rating of phones and demonstrate the demand for more sustainable electronics.

A range of new consumer phones from 12 mobile phone brands will be assessed by the Eco Rating initiative, with others expected to be announced in the future. Launch partners include Bullitt Group - Home of CAT and Motorola rugged phones, Doro, HMD Global - Home of Nokia Phones, Huawei, MobiWire, Motorola / Lenovo, OnePlus, OPPO, Samsung Electronics, TCL / Alcatel, Xiaomi and ZTE.

Starting from June 2021, the mobile operators will begin to introduce the distinct Eco Rating labelling at point of sale across 24 countries1 in Europe where they are present. Following a detailed assessment, each mobile phone handset will be given an overall Eco Rating score out of a maximum of 100 to signal the environmental performance of the device across its entire life cycle. The Eco Rating label will also highlight five key aspects of mobile device sustainability, providing additional information about durability, repairability, recyclability, climate efficiency and resource efficiency.

Using information provided by device manufacturers, Eco Rating applies a consistent evaluation methodology equally and objectively across 19 different criteria, culminating in a single score for each device. In addition, the Eco Rating provides guidance in durability, repairability, recyclability, climate efficiency and resource efficiency. The Eco Rating methodology builds on industry knowledge and best practice gathered through previous environmental labelling initiatives.