Up until now it has been hard for consumers to understand the environmental performance of mobile phones. The purpose of the new Eco rating initiative is to change that. The rating scheme, which is based on circular principles, drives transparency and comparability to help consumers identify the most environmentally sustainable mobile phones and encourage suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of their devices.
Eco rating was initiated by some of Europe’s leading operators in 2021; Vodafone, Telia, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica and Orange. Many of the leading mobile phone manufacturers have also joined as launch partners.
Rated mobile phone handsets are given an overall Eco Rating score out of a maximum of 100 to signal the environmental performance of the device across its entire life cycle. Eco Rating also highlights five key aspects of mobile device sustainability, providing additional information about aspects that are key to drive circularity: durability, repairability, recyclability, climate efficiency and resource efficiency.
The Eco Rating methodology builds on industry knowledge and best practice gathered through previous environmental labelling initiatives. It has been developed with technical support and supervision from Ihobe (Ihobe - Home, a publicly-owned agency specialized in Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment), with the participation of device suppliers, using the latest standards and guidelines from the European Union, ITU-T, ETSI and ISO with new parameters introduced where appropriate.
More information on Eco Rating can be found here:
- Eco Rating Consortium website: www.ecoratingdevices.com
- Launch press release of Eco rating (May 2021)
- Expansion press release (Nov 2021)
- Eco Rating expansion press release (Nov 2022)
