Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia has admitted that its e-waste management initiative in Nigeria, dubbed the ‘Take Back Initiative’, has not done as well as expected and promised to come up with better methods to curb the amount of electronic waste in the West African country.
“We will focus on it and probably put some very good initiatives in place. We will continue and put some new initiatives in place too,” he added.
It is reported that there are more than 50 million cell phones replaced every month worldwide, and only 10 percent of these are recycled.
The remaining 45 million cell phones are either disposed of or left unattended to, thereby increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the world, the same effect that 1,500 cars have to the environment globally.
At the event, Nokia unveiled the Nokia Asha 205 and Nokia 206, both available in single or dual SIM versions. The phones come with Nokia’s exclusive Slam feature that allows users to share multimedia content including music, videos, and photos with friends nearby, without having to necessarily pair the devices via Bluetooth or Internet.
It is reported that the retail price for the Nokia Asha 206 phone, which is expected to be shipped into Nigeria in the next three months, will be around US$62.
