Orange launches recycling scheme

Orange has launched a drop-in style scheme to encourage the British public to stop sitting on old electronics that could be put to good use through recycling.

The Recycle & Reward initiative enables members of the public to head to any Orange store with their old mobile phones, laptops and music players and hand them over in exchange for cash.

With around 90 million old handsets lying around worth hundreds of millions of pounds, Orange is hoping this scheme will encourage people into action and reduce the amount of electronic equipment sent to landfill.

On visiting an Orange store, users will be told the value of their product, with the money being sent in the form of a cheque within seven days. Items with no monetary value will also be recycled when presented to stores, according to Orange.

Users will also be able to transfer any content from their old phones thanks to Orange's new Copy and Keep service. The service is free to Orange care customers, or 6 to everyone else.

"At Orange, we've made some significant strides recently in reducing the environmental impact of our business. For instance, 80 per cent of our electricity now comes from renewable sources while in July we introduced the mini-SIM to reduce the amount of waste associated with new SIM cards," said Paul French, Orange's head of care products, in a statement.

"Recycle & Reward is just another small step, for us as a business and for the public, in our journey towards greener, more sustainable practices."