O2 Incentivises Mobile Users to Make an Environmental Difference

As part of the We’re in this together campaign O2 today announced the launch of O2 Energy Saver options. These options will offer owners of the 70million active handsets in the UK simple ways to reduce the environmental impact from their mobile behaviour. Each handset contains between 500 and 1,000 difference components and a significant amount of energy is used to extract and refine these materials. The total CO2 emission from the production and distribution of an average handset is at least 7.5kg of CO2 which is the equivalent internal space of a family car. If everyone in the UK who owns a mobile delayed its replacement by a year, it would equate to 187,000 cars being removed from the road annually. The first O2 Energy Saver option will save the energy used to manufacture and distribute a new phone by giving our growing base of 18 million customers a choice as to whether they should replace their mobile device at the end of their contract. O2’s customers who decide not to replace their phone will be offered a choice of either £100 credit, or £95 credit and a £5 donation to the O2 Energy Saver fund. O2 will match every donation, bringing the total donation for each phone not replaced to a total of £10. New and existing customers who wish to sign up to a new contract will also benefit from the second O2 Energy Saver option providing they agree to keep their current handsets. All bills and services for this SIM-only ‘paperless’ tariff are available via email or online and it is available on a one month rolling contract basis. It can be purchased online at http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/simonly and in O2 retail stores. For every customer who signs up O2 will make a £5 donation to the O2 Energy Saver fund. The money raised through the O2 Energy Saver options will be used by O2 and the Energy Saving Trust to create the O2 Energy Saver fund that will help to turn communities green by ensuring they use less energy, pollute less, create less waste and have a reduced contribution to climate change. Matthew Key, Chief Executive O2 UK, said “Mobiles have changed the way we live and people will always want new phones and the benefits they bring. However, there is an environmental impact from the production of each new phone. With 70 million active mobiles in the UK the collective carbon savings to be gained by keeping handsets longer is simply massive. We therefore want to give customers a choice and an incentive to keep their existing phone and make a difference.” Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: “We are delighted to be working with O2 to create this new O2 Energy Saver fund that will allow hit squads to visit communities across the UK to make their homes more energy efficient. Almost 50% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from what we do in the home and on the road. The Energy Saving Trust already works with communities across the UK through the Community Action for Energy (CAfE) programme. The O2 Energy Saver fund will be a new initiative dedicated to support households which are unable to keep their homes warm because of energy efficiencies.” All customers wanting the second O2 Energy Saver option can sign up for one of the following; Sim Only 20, Sim Only 30, Sim Only 40, Sim Only 50 or Sim Only O/P where customers will benefit from a great tariff with double the minutes and text messages compared to our standard 12 month contracts. The fund will launch in June 2007 and will encourage those living in communities most in need to bid for a full energy saving makeover**. Not only will successful bidders receive expert advice on how to save energy from the Energy Saving Trust, but each property will benefit from free energy saving solutions upon recommendation, including cavity-wall & loft installation, energy-efficient light bulbs, draught proofing and other energy-saving products where appropriate. The O2 Energy Saver will build on the success of O2’s current community programme which enables people to apply for grants up to £1000 to make sustainable improvements to where they live. This announcement is the first step in O2’s commitment to the Were in this Together campaign and other environmentally products are currently being investigated and will follow later in the year. Both Energy Saver options will be available to O2 customers from 28 April 2007.