Sony Xperia SP To Ship Without Charger On O2

O2 customers who select the Sony Xperia SP will have to pay extra for a mains charger after Sony became the third major manufacturer to sign up for the operator’s sustainability campaign that hopes to see all phones sold without chargers by 2015.

It is believed that at least 70 percent of all existing mobile phone users already have a USB charger that can be used with almost any handset, yet nearly 30 million phones sold each year include such a piece of equipment.

O2 says that the unused chargers amount to 18,700 tonnes of components, 124,274 miles of copper wire and plastic covering and the volume of landfill required if they were thrown away would be enough to fill four Olympic swimming pools.

Green Sony Xperia SP

The Sony Xperia SP will ship with just a USB to micro-USB cable that can be used with an existing mains adapter or a PC and if customers do not already have a charger, they can purchase a charging unit from O2 for a discounted price.

“As an industry, we have a duty to our customers to behave in a way that is environmentally responsible, making our businesses leaders in sustainability,” said Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2. “Taking chargers out of the box is a small change that has a huge environmental benefit – cutting down not just on waste, but also the environmental costs of transport, storage and component manufacture.”

O2 believes that by taking chargers out of the box, 24 million fewer units could be sold each year, a figure which could rise as people become aware that they already have the necessary equipment.

HTC was the first manufacturer to partner with O2, with 82 percent of customers who purchased the HTC One X+ choosing to take the greener option, exceeding the target of 70 percent. Nokia has also signed up and will ship the Nokia Lumia 925 on O2 without a charger.

“We have trialled this scheme with two major handset launches and have been able to show our partners that consumers are ready to buy phones without the chargers – if the environmental benefits are explained clearly to them,” added Dunne. “Sony backing our campaign is a major step towards making chargers out of the box the norm in the UK and I very much hope that we will see others joining us over the course of this year.”

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