Nokia - Environmental Record

Environmental Record

Electronic products such as cell phones impact the environment both during production and after their useful life when they are discarded and turned into electronic waste. Nokia is listed in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics that scores leading electronics manufacturers according to their policies on sustainability, climate and energy and how green their products are. In November 2011 Nokia ranked 3rd out of 15 listed electronics companies, falling two places due to its weaker performance on the Energy criteria and scoring 4.9/10.

All of Nokia's mobile phones are free of toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) since the end of 2005 and all new models of mobile phones and accessories launched in 2010 are on track to be free of brominated compounds, chlorinated flame retardants and antimony trioxide.

Nokia's voluntary take-back programme to recycle old mobile phones spans 84 countries with almost 5,000 collection points. However, the recycling rate of Nokia phones was only 3–5% in 2008, according to a global consumer survey released by Nokia. The majority of old mobile phones are simply lying in drawers at home and very few old devices, about 4%, are being thrown into landfill and not recycled.

All of Nokia's new models of chargers meet or exceed the Energy Star requirements. Nokia aims to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 18 percent in 2010 from a baseline year of 2006 and cover 50 percent of its energy needs through renewable energy sources. Greenpeace is challenging the company to use its influence at the political level as number 85 on the Fortune 500 to advocate for climate legislation and call for global greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2015.

Nokia is researching the use of recycled plastics in its products, which are currently used only in packaging but not yet in mobile phones.

Since 2001, Nokia has provided eco declarations of all its products and since May 2010 provides Eco profiles for all its new products. In an effort to further reduce their environmental impact in the future, Nokia released a new phone concept, Remade, in February 2008. The phone has been constructed of solely recyclable materials. The outer part of the phone is made from recycled materials such as aluminium cans, plastic bottles, and used car tires. The screen is constructed of recycled glass, and the hinges have been created from rubber tires. The interior of the phone is entirely constructed with refurbished phone parts, and there is a feature that encourages energy saving habits by reducing the backlight to the ideal level, which then allows the battery to last longer without frequent charges.