Italy: Electronic waste & CSR

People switch mobile phone as easily as they do a pair of shoes or a shirt that has gone out of fashion. But their disposal is not so painless. E-waste, f electronic rubbish generated by technological consumerism, is a problem that is destined to get worse not just because of its growing volumes ? it is estimate that in the US alone more than 30 million personal computers are thrown away every year ? but also because of the harmfulness of some of the component parts that make up electric and electronic devices. Mercury, chrome, cadmium, plastic, lead and a long list of other toxic substances should all be separated and adequately treated far away from dumping grounds.

By law the responsibility of correct disposal lies with the producer. Reality is quite different, even in a country like Italy where there are 1.34 mobile phones per person. Electronics recycling has increased, especially because of environmentalist?s awareness raising campaigns, but few mobile phone operators have done much in the way of making sure that their products are not dispersed into the environment.

Vodafone is the only exception to the rule. With the slogan: ?Throwing your mobile in the wrong place means dispersing it into the environment? the multinational mobile phone company has just concluded its 2007 Recycling Tour. The tour took off in the north of the country, in Turin, and travelled down to Bari stopping off at ten other Italian cities on the way and collecting more than 10 thousand mobile phones in less than a month.

?The EU directive on electronic waste will be enforced as of 2008? explaines Caterina Torcia, head of CSR at Vodafone Italia, ?places the responsibility for correct disposal with the producers and sellers. As a frequency administrator Vodafone is not directly involved, but since 2000 we have anticipated the EU law and in the 800 shops here in Italy owned by Vodafone there are containers that collect exhausted batteries and old mobile phones. To date we have collected more than 25 tonnes of mobile waste.?

It strikes as a pity that Vodafone?s recycling tour wasn?t sponsored by football icons Totti and Gattuso who feature in the companies nation wide advertising campaigns convincing us all that: Life is now. As it seems they are spurring us to buy more new phones, not recycle our old ones ? but Caterina Torcia is quick to highlight that Vodafone has committed itself to recycling a million mobile phones by March 2008.

The EU law
Last year the European Union issued a directive that will be applied as of January 2008 that obliges the producers and sellers of personal computer batteries and mobile phones to clearly indicate their duration, and to manage their correct disposal. It also states that by 2012 at least 25% of exhausted batteries will have to be collected and recycled.