Sony Ericsson identifies second life for old phones

Sony Ericsson has revealed that it is likely to expand an innovative recycling scheme to reuse many of the components from its old phones in medical equipment, consumer goods and even toys.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Mats Pellback-Scharp, head of corporate sustainability at the mobile phone giant, said that growing numbers of technology firms are realising it is more cost-effective to buy colour displays, cameras and touch-screen technologies from old phones than develop the systems themselves.

"The volume of phones we are collecting for recycling is now at a scale where it is perfectly feasible for companies to take the old components and reuse them," he explained. "That is already happening, and you can find technologies that contain our old components."

The plan to encourage greater reuse of phone components is part of a wider environmental push from Sony Ericsson, which is launching its latest green phone, the Naite, in the UK next week.

Pellback-Scharp said the new phone will feature a new energy efficient charger that uses just 30mW when in standby mode compared to an industry average of 300mW and a previous best for a Sony Ericsson charger of 100mW.

"We've got it down to really low standby power that is just one tenth of the industry average," he said, adding that the improved charger would now become the standard for many of the company's future phones. "Some phones with larger screens require chargers with a higher power output," he explained. "But we are working on improving the energy efficiency of those too."

The Naite also features recycled plastics, an information manual that is programmed into the phone to cut down on paper use, and is PVC and BFR free.

Pellback-Scharp said that further improvements in energy efficiency were in the pipeline with a number of innovations planned for upcoming models. "We are currently looking at improving the efficiency of the phone itself by using light sensors to check when you can dim the screen," he said.

However, Sony Ericsson is less convinced by speculation that phone chargers could soon be ousted altogether by integrating solar panels into phones that ensure they are constantly charging.

"We did a concept study on solar panels and found that it takes more energy to manufacture the solar panel than to recharge a conventional phone," he said. "Until solar panels improve solar phones will still be a gimmick."