Proximus : By adopting the Eco Rating, Proximus is being transparent about the environmental impact of its smartphones

An index that evaluates environmental impact

The Eco Rating is a harmonized scoring system already used in 26 countries. The index evaluates the environmental impact of the entire life cycle of the raw materials, production, transport, use and recycling of mobile phones. It already has 16 participating suppliers and today more than 120 mobile phone models have already undergone evaluation. This number is expected to grow.

The Eco Rating label was created by the JAC (Joint Audit Cooperation), a consortium of telecommunications operators set up to verify, evaluate and develop the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the production centers of the major suppliers in the field of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies).

The Eco Rating informs consumers about the ecological impact of the smartphone they wish to buy. Proximus chose the Eco Rating label because it provides a clear environmental score for mobile phones. This Eco Rating label is easily recognizable. It can be found in the webshop on the proximus.be website and via an information display next to the assessed models in Proximus shops.

How does the Eco Rating work?

The Eco Rating is calculated from information provided by mobile phone manufacturers and a consistent, fair and objective assessment methodology based on 19 criteria. These elements are used to assign an overall rating to each device. Each device tested is given a score out of 100 to reflect its environmental performance based on five criteria.

• Durability: this indicates the robustness of the mobile phone, the battery life and the length of the warranty.
• Recyclability: provides more information about the ease of disassembling, recovering and/or recycling the smartphone components.
• Repairability covers the ease with which the device can be repaired and what could increase the useful life of the product and improve its repairability, reusability and upgradability potential.
• Climate efficiency is transparent with respect to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Resource efficiency assesses the impact of the amount of scarce raw materials that are required to manufacture the phone. For example, gold (for the manufacture of electronic components). The higher the score, the lower the impact on material availability.

Helping customers to make a responsible and sustainable choice

Many brands, such as Samsung, OnePlus, Nokia and Huawei, are already participating in this project. Not all brands and models of smartphones have a green rating yet. Apple devices are unfortunately not included in the Eco Rating initiative.