Over half of handsets recycled have been iPhones, with the 4s being the most popular and accounting for eight per cent of total volume
O2 Recycle has handed back over £135 million to consumers as the scheme celebrates the two millionth handset processed.
It launched with recycling partner Redeem in 2009. Over half of the recycled handsets (one million) were iPhones. The 5s was the most recycled phone over the past 12 months accounting for 14 per cent of the total volume and giving £4.5 million back to consumers.
However, the iPhone 4s has been the most recycled handset since O2 Recycle’s inception seven years ago, accounting for eight per cent of total volume and giving back £15 million.
Over half of the total number of handsets recycled were sent in over the last two years – and over 430,000 in the last year.
Since launch, O2 Recycle has saved 10,000 tonnes of CO2 and 26 million litres of water. The reduction in CO2 equates to taking nearly 2,000 cars off the road and according to Green Alliance, this is also equivalent to over one per cent of O2’s UK emissions.
O2 head of sustainability marketing Mark McGinn said: “When we launched O2 Recycle in 2009, our ambition was to offer people a simple, environmentally friendly way of disposing of their old tech and to reward them for doing so.
“We’re proud to have reached this landmark figure, with more people than ever recycling their devices with us and becoming the biggest mobile network recycler in Europe.”
