Sustainable procurement of mobile

phone service contract

Summary

WRAP delivered a programme of providing technical procurement

support to public sector organisations on behalf of Defra during

2014/15. The programme was designed to assist public sector

organisations realise cost savings as well as environmental benefits

through procuring products and services in a more resource efficient

or sustainable way.

This case study highlights information developed in collaboration

with Steve Wallace of Wallace Environmental for use within service

contracts for mobile phones and focuses on incorporating resource

efficiency (RE) and circular economy (CE) considerations. Although

the information was developed for a specific procurement, the

procurement did not go ahead as planned for unconnected reasons

and therefore the benefits of this approach can not be quantified.

The information provided is for use by government departments as

well as the wider public sector as part of the procurement of a

mobile phone service contract.

Key Facts

Early market analysis

identified handset Eco-

rating.

Eco-rating scheme enables

environmental performance

of handsets to be compared.

Aims and objectives

WRAP provided support to develop

content to ensure that a service contract

for mobile phones included best practice

RE and CE considerations. This would

ensure that Government would lead by

example achieving both cost savings and

environmental benefits.

The WRAP support involved development

of appropriate environmental criteria and

questions for inclusion within tender

documentation, relating to:

the environmental policies of the

manufacturers; and

data to be reported on handset

sustainability/RE (e.g. material use,

components, End of Life

management, take-back, reuse

etc.).

The criteria and questions were based on

an initial review of environmental data

reported by mobile phone service

providers based on an understanding of

what the market is able to offer in terms of

product / service sustainability.

The support also identified that it would be

feasible for the procuring authority to work

in collaboration with the appointed

contractor. Together they can develop

guidance on potential ways to support and

restrict call off arrangements to

environmentally preferred handsets. It

also proposed a metric for individual

public sector departments to aid selection

and procurement.

Results

Eco-Rating 2.0

The WRAP support identified that some

service providers have a form of eco-rating

for mobile phones. Eco-Rating 2.01 was

developed by Forum for the Future,

1 http://news.o2.co.uk/2014/10/02/eco-rating-2-0-

has-arrived/

Vodafone and O2 to help customers

compare mobile devices based on their

environmental credentials. The scheme

will be adopted by other network

operators around the globe so the

networks can share a common eco rating

across all of the devices on offer.

The Eco-Rating 2.0 is based on a number of

key principles:

Accuracy

Simplicity

Completeness

Transparency

Comparability

Equitability

Relevance.

It was proposed that potential tenderers

would be asked to include details within

their bid on the use of Eco-Rating 2.0, or

equivalent, which rated devices based on

the above key principles. WRAP proposed

that once the contract had been awarded,

the service provider would support each

procuring department to identify the most

suitable, yet sustainable device for their

needs.

This approach would allow the procuring

department to either provide:

information to individual users so

that they could make their own

informed choices, or

departmental buyers could choice

restrict for their department if they

felt that it was appropriate.

End of Life Management

The review also identified that most

manufacturers only complied with the

WEEE Directive in terms of the legal

requirement for recycling devices via the

producer compliance schemes and that

whilst only a handful offered direct take

back of devices, all UK service providers

offered a take back scheme via a third

party recycler / reseller. Most

manufacturers offered a repair service.

Sustainability criteria and questions

WRAP recommended a series of questions

for inclusion within the tender

documentation based on:

Use of Eco-Rating 2.0 or equivalent

Sustainable materials

Durability and life extension

Functionality

End of life management.

Outcome

The guidance documents developed by

WRAP are aimed to assist and inform

procuring authorities approach to

including environmental criteria and

performance within the service contract.

Impacts

To estimate the impacts the inclusion of

environmental criteria could deliver

through the service contract, it would be

necessary for either the procuring

authority or the appointed service provider

to compare the devices they would have

purchased, versus the devices they were

opting to purchase. Information such as

the environmental impacts and lifetime of

the devices can then be analysed using the

Eco-Rating 2.0 scheme to estimate the

benefits.

This could be used as a typical example

and extrapolated by the anticipated

number of devices procured annually

through the service contract across the

procuring authority.

Supporting information

The proposed questions are provided in

Appendix 1. However, the wording is

provided for guidance only and legal

advice should be taken before proceeding

with specific actions.

It is also recognised that procuring

authorities will already have existing

environmental based questions for

inclusion within Invitation to Tenders. The

contents of Appendix 1 are therefore

provided to be additional questions and

should be reviewed to ensure they are

relevant and proportionate to the

procurement before being included.

Appendix 1 – sample

procurement wording

The information and sample procurement

wording are provided in good faith and we

believe at the time of issue to be legally

and commercially accurate. However, the

wording is provided for guidance only and

legal advice should be taken before

proceeding with specific actions.

The contractor shall issue, on a monthly

basis the current device catalogue. Our

preferred measure of sustainability for

handsets is the Eco-Rating 2.0 scheme

(administered by Vodafone/Telefonica but

accessible on a free licence basis for all

service providers). The contractor will

provide a rating for each of the mobile

devices that they supply in accordance

with this scheme or some equivalent

scheme which provides an aggregate score

across the following main topic areas:

Overall corporate sustainability

commitment of the handset

manufacturer

Product durability and life

extension

Energy use and global warming

impact

Raw material depletion/sustainable

materials (e.g. recycled content)

Restriction of hazardous

substances (beyond compliance

with RoHS and REACH)

Water depletion (embodied water)

Packaging and logistics efficiency

End of life impacts (reuse, recycling

etc.)

Functionality (e.g. where displacing

another device such as a camera or

sat nav)

Note: where data is not available from

a handset manufacturer, a zero score

should be applied.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The contractor will take steps to review the

Eco-Rating 2.0 (or equivalent) score as

provided by the manufacturer to check its

validity where possible and provide

evidence of the process.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The contractor will require the

manufacturer to take reasonable steps (for

example using the EICC conflict minerals

reporting template2 (CMRT) and related

procedures) to ensure that its supply chain

only uses tin, tungsten, gold and tantalum

from compliant smelters and refiners

authorised by the GeSI/EICC Conflict-Free

Smelter Program and within the valid

period for that smelter/refiner. Evidence of

the process used is required.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The contractor shall offer a repair service

for the handset, both within warranty and

beyond the warranty period for at least 4

years after the handset model has ceased

being supplied under this contract. The

price for such a service must be specified

separately within the tender document.

Response (state Compliant OR “Not

Compliant”):

The contractor will support the Customers

in the disposal and recycling of devices;

including security aspects regarding

deletion of data contained on devices prior

to collection or as a part of the disposal

service.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

2 http://www.conflictfreesourcing.org/conflict-

minerals-reporting-template/

Sustainable procurement of mobile phone service contract 5

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www.wrap.org.uk/sustainableprocurement

The Contractor will offer Customers a

financial or other suitable incentive to

encourage the return of used handsets.

This will be facilitated by a free-post return

envelope or on site collection service.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The Contractor will provide a facility for

Customers to dispose of their old working

devices in a way that the device can be

wiped clean of all data so that it can be

fully reused as a working mobile phone in

its existing or refurbished state. The

Contractor shall include an option for such

devices to be used for charitable purposes

as well as for commercial resale.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The Contractor will provide information, at

a minimum of every 6 months, on handset

recycling, including but not necessarily

limited to:

An overview of the recycling/material

reprocessing of devices that are

returned by customers, including;

o % of handsets reused whole for

their original;

o Number of and type of each key

component recovered (e.g. PCBs,

chips, screen) for reuse as a % of

handsets [or some other

measurement to allow

benchmarking];

o % of main materials recovered by

reprocessing (plastic, steel,

aluminium)

o % of precious metals recovered by

reprocessing (e.g. from PCBs and

chips)

o % of other rare minerals recovered

through reprocessing (e.g. from

PCBs and chips)

Strategy implemented to maximise

recovery of materials, including rare

and precious minerals.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The Contractor will maintain and provide

to customers upon request and at a

minimum every 6 months, up-to-date

environmental and sustainability

information (openly available from the

manufacturer) on all devices available.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The Contractor will provide support to

Customers to assist the Customer and

users make more sustainable /

environmental choices with regards to

their mobile service. This will include as a

minimum a standing Sustainability /

Environmental Agenda item for the regular

Service Review Meeting to review the

performance of the eco-rating, device

disposal and recycling requirements.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):

The Contractor will provide a service which

will allow Customers to have their devices

repaired outside the manufacturer’s

warranty period.

The price for such a service must be

specified separately within the tender

document.

Response (state “Compliant” OR “Not

Compliant”):