IDC Ranks Mobile Phone Manufacturers' Recycling Efforts – Mobile Industry Faces a Long Road to "Green"

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Given the ubiquity of mobile phones around the globe, it is critical for the manufacturers of these devices to demonstrate their corporate responsibility by working toward greener phones that simplify safe and proper disposal and even reuse of the billions of mobile phones in the market. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), mobile phone recycling is amazingly low today, with rates of 10% considered good.

“IDC spoke with the vendors directly, physically inspected the packaging, devices, and accessories of mobile phone manufacturers, and leveraged published corporate responsibility reports and other corporate and product environmental reports as available. IDC also reviewed other third-party rating and watchdog sites such as ENERGY STAR and Greenpeace.”

To better understand where the mobile industry stands on sustainability, IDC used five criteria (packaging, materials, energy, end-of-life program, and overall sustainability efforts) and 20 sub-criteria to create a green ranking of 10 key mobile device manufacturers. The top 5 mobile device manufacturers in terms of their sustainability policies and practices are (in alphabetical order): Apple, LG, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.

• Apple - Apple recycles in 95% of the countries where its products are sold, including the United States, India, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Korea, and Australia. Apple has been a leader in influencing its supply chain and has taken strong steps as a key advocate for others to develop green technologies. This goes up to the executive level, where Steve Jobs is very active in the company's green efforts.
• LG - LG has made strides in its power management, including the development of a solar charger, and seeks to continue to deploy such solutions throughout its entire line of products. LG has reduced the standby power within its mobile chargers, and handsets have a charger reminder that beeps when the handset is fully charged.
• Nokia - Nokia is particularly strong in the area of materials where between 65% and 80% of any Nokia device can be recycled and the rest, primarily plastics, can be used to fuel the recycling process. The company has also gone the furthest in its use of recycled materials.
• Samsung - Samsung scored well in its reduction of hazardous materials; for example, all new model phones were free of BFRs by January 1, 2009, and free of PVCs by July 1, 2009. Samsung has set dates of December 31, 2012, for making mobile phones free of phthalates, beryllium, brominated compounds, and antimony trioxide.
• Sony Ericsson - Sony Ericsson has optimized packaging to be more environmentally friendly by including recycling mailers and developing lighter boxes saving 80% on CO2 emissions from transport versus the standard box. Sony Ericsson completely replaced paper manuals with electronic manuals and saved 350 tons of paper on 1 million phones, equaling 13,000 trees and 7,500 cubic meters of water.

"IDC used a variety of primary and secondary sources to obtain information on mobile device manufacturers' packaging, materials, energy, end-of-life programs, and overall sustainability efforts to develop the green ranking methodology," said Stephen Drake, program vice president for Mobility & Telecom for IDC. "IDC spoke with the vendors directly, physically inspected the packaging, devices, and accessories of mobile phone manufacturers, and leveraged published corporate responsibility reports and other corporate and product environmental reports as available. IDC also reviewed other third-party rating and watchdog sites such as ENERGY STAR and Greenpeace."

The IDC study, Worldwide Mobile Device Manufacturer 2009 Vendor Profiles: A Green Analysis – An Evaluation of 10 Key OEMs' Mobile Device Sustainability Efforts (IDC #223277), analyzes the sustainability efforts of 10 key mobile device manufacturers. It ranks these manufacturers across 20 key criteria including device manufacturers' packaging, materials, energy, end-of-life programs, and overall sustainability efforts. The study is also part of IDC's Mobile Green: Strategies for Mobile Phone Sustainability report series, which investigates the mobile phone sustainability ecosystem and provides a competitive analysis of mobile phone manufacturers as well as mobile operators' green efforts.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 46 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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