O2 Recycle saves more than 250,000 devices from landfill

To mark World Recycling Day 2023, Virgin Media O2 is announcing that – through its pioneering O2 Recycle scheme – more than 250,000 devices were saved from landfill in 2022.

The scheme encourages customers – regardless of their network – to trade in unwanted smartphones, tablets, and accessories in exchange for a cash-back boost. O2 Recycle supports businesses to recycle their e-waste, too.

In 2022, O2 Recycle paid out more than £36 million to consumers for their devices, processing on average more than 950 handsets per working day.

Of these devices, 92% were data wiped, refurbished, and resold as ‘like new’ products to customers – supporting the circular economy, with the remainder broken down for raw materials. None of the tech which goes through O2 Recycle ends up in landfill.

The UK currently produces more electrical waste per person than any other country in the world (after Norway) and, according to Virgin Media O2 research there are more than 17.5 million unused phones and tablets stashed away in UK homes.

That’s why O2 Recycle is a key part of Virgin Media O2’s Better Connections Plan – the company’s sustainability strategy. It is one of the ways the company is helping to tackle e-waste, supporting people to carry out 10 million circular actions by the end of 2025.  Last year, Virgin Media O2 recycled, resold, and repaired 2.4 million devices – including handsets and customer equipment such as routers and set-top boxes.