O2 today announced they would be launching eco rating, the UK’s first eco mobile phone rating system.

With 44% of consumers saying environmental factors would influence their choice of mobile phone, O2‘s new strategy allows customers to know which handsets are the most environmentally friendly, based on a number of different factors. These include: the raw materials it contains, the impact caused by the manufacturer, packaging, longevity, energy efficiency, how easy it is to recycle and its overall environmental impact.

Not only that. O2 also consider whether the phone can act as your MP3 player and camera, or even encourage you to plan a journey by foot, alongside looking more in depth into the manufacturers performance, including labour standards, environmental principles and carbon and water management.

With over 4.1 billion mobile phones in circulation worldwide with a combined carbon footprint over their lifetime of more than 100 million tones, O2′s new scheme hopes to cut this down, alongside bringing sustainable products to their customers as part of their Think Big programme. Eventually, they also hope to drive up standards from manufacturers, and help the industry understand the importance of environmental issues.

Ron Dunne, Chief executive at O2 states: “Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the social and environmental impact of the technology they buy and we believe this kind of product transparency will help empower them to make greener choices”.

The results, which will be published online and within O2 stores next week, rate the Sony Ericsson Elm at the top of the list, scoring 4.3/5. Seven phones tied in second place with a score of 4.0, including the Nokia 6700 Classic, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and the Sony Ericsson Zylo. It isn’t looking good for for LG however, who take up 6 places within the 10 worst eco phones list. The LG GW520 shares the bottom spot with the Palm Pre+.

Let us know what you think about O2′s new eco rating scheme in the comment box below!

Tags: eco rating, nokia 6700 classic, O2, sony ericsson elm, sony ericsson xperia x10 mini, sony ericsson zylo

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