Telefónica – MARA: a 360 approach to circularity 

Circularity is part of Telefónica’s sustainability strategy, reducing the environmental impact of mobile devices by extending their lifecycle. By prioritising reuse, repair, and recycling, Telefónica minimises waste, keeps valuable materials in circulation, and drives a more responsible and efficient use of technology – all while advancing its sustainability commitments. 

MARA is Telefónica’s comprehensive global program that supports and enhances the circular economy for mobile devices. It includes several platforms and initiatives focused on extending device lifespans by encouraging repair, reuse, and takeback. 

• MARA Care & Repair is an omnichannel diagnostics platform to anticipate potential device issues, allowing customers to diagnose their devices anytime, anywhere. With over 200,000 customer interactions since launch, the platform has prevented 65% of unnecessary repairs while achieving a 95% customer satisfaction rate. If a device is identified as faulty, customers are encouraged to repair it beyond the warranty period with competitive pricing, original spare parts, reduced lead times, and streamlined solutions. This approach not only extends device lifespan it also reduces electronic waste. As of 2025, the platform is active in eight countries and accounts for over 30% of Telefónica’s customer repairs. 

• MARA Trade is an innovative and user-friendly platform that enables customers to trade-in used devices, providing instant and accurate valuations with 0% discrepancies, ensuring a transparent process for all parties and allocating the right disposition channel before collection. 

• MARA Reuse promotes the reuse of devices – sourced from trade-ins, repairs, dead on arrival (DOA), or returns – by repurposing them for internal needs or resold to customers. Telefónica leverages both in-house and third-party capabilities to restore the value of these devices, contributing to its goal of 500,000 mobile devices reused by 2030. 

• MARA UP fosters and complements the sale of used and refurbished devices needed through Telefónica’s B2B and B2C channels, ensuring a complete circular lifecycle for mobile devices. 

One of the program’s greatest challenges is increasing awareness and maximising internal reuse across eight countries, where the standardisation of operational processes, tools, reporting, and key capabilities among markets is essential to scale. 

Developing a global scale program across Europe and Latin America requires creating awareness and aligning numerous internal stakeholders (e.g., procurement, customer service, logistics, devices, operations) across both global and in-country teams needed to promote these initiatives. Working with several partners in a collaborative way to create and/or support capabilities needed at the global and local level (i.e. device diagnostics, repair, trade-in, pricing, device analytics and operational) is key to success.  

By integrating this comprehensive approach, MARA reinforces Telefónica’s commitment to circularity, sustainability, and customer satisfaction while extending the lifecycle of mobile devices.