Strategy Paper for Circular Economy: Mobile devices

Sustainability challenges can only be addressed at a systemic level, and this is why the GSMA is proud to play a role in helping the mobile industry become more sustainable.

In 2016, the mobile industry was the first industry to commit fully to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and, in 2019, the GSMA Board set a climate ambition on behalf of the industry to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest.

Earlier this year, the GSMA published its first Strategy Paper on the Circular Economy, which focussed on how network equipment can evolve towards more circular business models.

Continuing the exploration of circularity, this paper looks at the largest environmental impact of the mobile industry – mobile devices.

The paper has been developed with Ethos, a Swedish management consultancy specialising in sustainability, in collaboration with Tele2, as the Project Group lead, and Project Group members from the GSMA.