{"id":9809,"date":"2023-06-25T18:07:38","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T17:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/?page_id=9809"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:44:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:44:42","slug":"reuse-refurbish-recycle","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/reuse-refurbish-recycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Reuse, Refurbish, Recycle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-avoid-recovered-mobile-phones-being-sent-to-landfill-or-incineration\"><strong>Avoid recovered mobile phones being sent to landfill or incineration<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 5 billion mobile phones are currently sitting unused in homes and offices globally. Mobile operators are targeting these phones for reuse, refurbishing or recycling as part of a more \u2018circular\u2019 supply chain for mobile phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of this circularity ambition, 17 leading operators around the world &#8211; BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, Globe Telekom, GO Malta, Iliad, KDDI, NOS, NTT Docomo, Orange, Proximus, Safaricom, Singtel, SoftBank, Tele2, Telef\u00f3nica, Telenor and Telia (as at December 2025) have signed up to a new set of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/mobile-industry-eyes-five-billion-dormant-phones-sitting-in-desk-drawers-for-reuse-or-recycling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pace-setting targets<\/a> developed with the GSMA. The new goals aim to build upon the existing initiatives of the mobile industry and accelerate the move away from a \u2018take-make-dispose\u2019 approach towards a more circular economy for mobile phones. Operators are committing to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-increase-take-back-of-mobile-phones\"><strong>Increase take-back of mobile phones<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>By 2030, the number of used mobile devices collected through operator take-back schemes amount to at least 20% of the number of new mobile devices distributed directly to customers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reuse-refurbish-recycle\">Reuse, Refurbish, Recycle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>By 2030, 100% of used mobile devices collected through operator take-back schemes will be repaired, reused or transferred to controlled recycling organisations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-gsma-white-color has-gsma-red-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GSMA-Circularity-Targets-Definitions.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Detailed definitions of the targets and terminology<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alongside existing commitments, this new set of goals is intended to help extend the longevity of existing mobile devices sitting dormant by giving them a second life through refurbishment and reuse. By ensuring that recovered phones are not sent to landfill or incineration, old and broken phones can be responsibly recycled to recover critical minerals that can be reused in new smartphones, helping to reduce the environmental impacts of mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-new-research\">New Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New research by the GSMA has shown there are over 5 billion inactive used mobile phones globally.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"538\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-538x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Reuse, Refurbish, Recycle\" class=\"wp-image-9812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-538x1024.jpg 538w, https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-158x300.jpg 158w, https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-768x1463.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-807x1536.jpg 807w, https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-1075x2048.jpg 1075w, https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-scaled.jpg 1344w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:35px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-gsma-white-color has-gsma-red-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Reuse-refurbish-recycle-infographic.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download infographic<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-gsma-white-color has-gsma-red-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Research-Methodology-2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Research methodology<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This latest announcement builds on the GSMA\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/gsma_people\/strategy-paper-for-circular-economy-mobile-devices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Strategy Paper for Circular Economy: Mobile Devices<\/a><\/strong>. This paper lays out a vision for \u201c<em>Devices with as long a lifetime as possible,<\/em> <em>made with 100% recyclable and recycled content,<\/em> <em>100% renewable energy,<\/em> <em>and where no device ends up as waste\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further collaboration between mobile network operators, device manufacturers, customers and repairers will be needed to fully achieve this vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-mobile-industry-already-doing\">What is the mobile industry already doing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n            <div class=\"people colour\" id=\"people-af2645c4\"  data-slug=\"bell,globe,kddi,ntt-docomo-2,orange,proximus,safaricom,tele2,telefonica-2,telstra\"   data-layout=\"\"><\/div>\n        \n<script>\n    window.enableSaveBreadcrumb = true;\n    window.addEventListener(\"load\", function(){\n      const people_list = new People_List();\n      people_list.init(\"people-af2645c4\");\n      \/\/console.log(list);\n    });\n<\/script>\n    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Avoid recovered mobile phones being sent to landfill or incineration More than 5 billion mobile phones are currently sitting unused in homes and offices globally. Mobile operators are targeting these phones for reuse, refurbishing or recycling as part of a more \u2018circular\u2019 supply chain for mobile phones. As part of this circularity ambition, 17 leading [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9809","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.3 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Reuse, Refurbish, Recycle - External Affairs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mobile operators are targeting unused phones for reuse, refurbishing or recycling as part of a more \u2018circular\u2019 supply chain for mobile phones.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/reuse-refurbish-recycle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reuse, Refurbish, Recycle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mobile operators are targeting unused phones for reuse, refurbishing or recycling as part of a more \u2018circular\u2019 supply chain for mobile phones.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/reuse-refurbish-recycle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"External Affairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-19T09:44:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Infographic-with-logo-538x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GSMA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reuse, Refurbish, Recycle - 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