Nokia has announced plans to begin selling refurbished phones as part of its environmental sustainability strategy. HMD Global (the Nokia brand licensee for phones and tablets) recently released its Sustainability Progress Report 2023. The report outline some of the measures that the company has embarked on to enhance its sustainability profile. Apart from an expanding tree planting campaign, the company is now incorporating the remanufacture of Nokia phones for resale.
The push for sustainability has seen Nokia omit a number of accessories from its package for smartphones and tablets. Charging bricks and wired headsets are the two most visible omissions while the brand continues to drive other sustainability initiatives. HMD reported that it had planted over 418,000 trees to date and the tree-planting initiative is spreading to other countries. The tree-planting campaign is part of a partnership between HMD Global and Ecology.
Nokia has garnered several awards including the Ecovardis Platinum Award 2023 for top businesses globally with excellent sustainability practices. The recycling of old Nokia phones will see consumers buying used devices in the UK and Germany. Nokia also plans to extend the recycling program to other markets. This will afford customers to buy used but durable Nokia phones at a cheaper price.
Furthermore,HMD will also donate returned and refurbished phones to charity so that they do not end up in landfills. The company has donated about 700 phones to digitally disadvantaged people. The company has also helped to remove up to 3.5 tonnes of plastic from rivers.
The HMD Global initiative to refurbish and sell used Nokia phones is currently tied to its Europe operations. Nokia continues to maintain a strong presence in the European market but it is declining in several other markets. It will thus be interesting to see how HMD Global scales up this initiative to cover other markets.