To reduce waste when delivering them to users

Jul 10, 2009 16:31 GMT  ·  By

Wireless operator Orange announced recently the launch of mini SIM cards in Europe, becoming this way the first mobile phone operator on the continent to offer such products. According to the company, the launch of the new mini SIM cards is meant to offer it the possibility to reduce the amount of waste that is usually produced at times when customers receive new SIM cards.

According to the network operator, the new SIM cards are coming to users embedded in a credit card-sized piece of plastic that uses only ten percent of the material that is employed in the plug-in SIM solutions. In addition, the company also said that, out of the 11,600 tonnes of SIMs that were shipped each year, 90 percent of the plastic material in the cards remained unused.

Moreover, it seems that the wireless operator plans on making further waste reductions, and it announced that the manufacturing process would involve the embedding of two SIMs in each credit card-sized item. The company already started the trial with the new cards with select contract customers and announced that it planned to extend the move to all future SIM cards. At the same time, Orange also said that SIM card providers, including Gemalto, Sagem Orga and Oberthur Technologies, were all supporting the move by supplying the carrier with mini SIMs.

Orange has recently made some significant changes in becoming a more sustainable, greener business. For instance, 80% of our energy now comes from renewable sources, customers are encouraged to recycle handsets in our stores, and we’ve committed to a universal mobile phone charger,” Orange UK CEO Tom Alexander stated. “Ultimately our goal is to have no waste involved in providing new SIMs and to use organic materials. This is just one small but significant step further in that journey of reducing the environmental impact of our business for our customers,” he added.