§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions her Department has held with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about recycling mobile phones; and what steps are being taken to encourage such recycling. [136810]
§ Mr. TimmsThe recycling of mobile phones is covered by the EC Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The Directive is currently being transposed into UK legislation and this work is being overseen by an inter Departmental team, which includes officials from Defra. Although the recycling of mobile phones has not been discussed specifically, we are aware of a number of initiatives around the UK that take back, refurbish and reuse mobile phones or that recycle them.
The Department welcomes the reuse and recycling of mobile phones through these initiatives, as a useful contribution to sustainable consumption and production, but does not operate a promotional programme specifically aimed at encouraging mobile phone reuse or recycling. We believe that the WEEE Directive will offer the incentive for more schemes of this type to be established, especially since mobile phones contain potentially high value materials such as precious metals and chips.
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