O2 offers, in addition, a trade-in and recycling service for business customers, with 250 business account managers available to assist with any enquiries.
During 2014 O2 and Redeem delivered over £30 million in customer payments and discounts, and recycled or repurposed as many as 420,000 devices – growth of 18% in units year-on-year. Since 2009, under the partnership with Redeem, O2 customers have traded in more than 1.3 million devices.
Claes Svensson, CEO of Redeem said: “O2’s partnership with Redeem is the biggest trade-in and most prominent recycling operation of any European major network operator. It brings big benefits to consumers in the form of cash payments and trade-in value for their old devices, and we at Redeem are truly excited to be working with O2 to help support and develop their customer relationships. Of course, recycling old phones and extending their useful lives also has broader social and environmental benefits.”
Nicky McGroarty, Head of Supply Chain and Commercial Partners at Telefónica UK, said: “O2 Recycle is an increasingly important part of how we trade, combining brand, innovation and a fantastic experience whilst giving customers great value. Redeem have now been working with us since 2009 and their leadership within our business has been a big factor in the success of the programme.”
According to a report published last year by Technavio, 5.4 million handsets in the UK were recycled in 2013, with figures expected to reach 6.7 million in 2014 and 16 million by 2018. As smartphones and consumer electronics devices in general become more sophisticated, their lifetime value is becoming ever greater. This means that consumers in the developing economies can share in these technological advances, supporting the burgeoning global electronic recycling and re-commerce market.