Over 2000 phones are replaced every hour in the UK and if you laid out all the old unused mobile phones in the UK end to end you would 'ring' Britain twice and the same line would also stretch from London to Los Angeles.
In the wake of World Environment Day, this year’s BBC Summer Fetsival aims to make a lasting impression on the UK’s growing mobile phone mountain, currently estimated to be 90,000,000 used handsets, by encouraging people to dig out their old handsets in the run up to the event, which begins on June 11th at the NEC in Birmingham.
Over 2000 mobile phones are replaced every hour of every day in the UK - that’s 18,000,000 a year, and yet only 3,000,000 are being re-cycled, with the rest ending up in landfill or gathering dust in drawers and cupboards across the UK.
With incentives such as 50% off the Good Food Show in November and 25% off dining and merchandise at the event itself, organisers hope to raise awareness for the benefits of recycling while converting the old phones into new money for environmental projects.
"This is a great initiative which enables everyone to save the planet. Like all great ideas it is amazingly simple and brings eco-action within reach of all consumers- a bit like turning the tap off when you brush your teeth," saidJacob Tompkins, Director, Waterwise UK- one of the eco-charities supported by the Coolaworld recysling programme.