Vodafone collects 1 million phones for WWF recycling target

Vodafone Group said in March 2026 that it had collected 1 million old and unused mobile phones through a recycling and trade-in programme run with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The programme launched in late 2022 and targeted decommissioned devices from Vodafone customers in Europe and Africa.

Vodafone said the initiative raised £1 million for WWF projects, including the creation of a new national park and land protection work in Colombia, an environmental information app in Brazil, tiger conservation in several countries, and training Tanzanian women how to fish. Vodafone also cited research stating that buying a refurbished smartphone instead of a new one can prevent around 50kg of carbon dioxide equivalent and avoid the extraction of 70kg of raw materials.

The programme sits within Vodafone's broader sustainability work rather than its core mobile network or eSIM operations. For the device market, the announcement highlights operator-backed collection, refurbishment and trade-in activity in Europe and Africa, where carriers are using device reuse to reduce waste and extend handset lifecycles.