Nokia has been acused of breaking handset reuse rules

Pentti Kallio, the chairman of a Finnish association promoting the recycling of electronics, was quoted as saying in Left Alliance organ Kansan Uutiset that Nokia was breaching Finnish handset reuse regulations.

In an ongoing Nokia campaign, consumers can send unwanted Nokia-branded handsets back to the manufacturer free of charge. According to Mr Kallio, the company is crushing the handsets instead of reusing them or parts thereof as required by the regulations. Päivyt Tallqvist, a Nokia spokeswoman, said the claim was utterly groundless.

"The campaign has been about encouraging consumers to return disused mobile phones and finding out which ways to do so function best," Ms Tallqvist said.

She added not one handset received as part of the campaign had been crushed.

"The envelopes will be given to our partner Stena Technoworld to wait for the campaign to run its course. In the next stage, we will send a team there to analyse what kind of products we have received. This means every envelope will be opened and sorted."

Working handsets in good condition would be tested and suitable resellers found, Ms Tallqvist added.

"The handsets that do not pass these tests will naturally be recycled. After all, the most important thing is to get the old phones out of the drawer and recycling is a perfectly good alternative. That way we can salvage a lot of the material for reuse."

Source: NewsRoom Finland

I hope Nokia can get out of this once. I’d like to see what evidence Pentti Kallio had acquired to make such a negative statement. You can’t just say things like this at a moments whim and not expect a backlash.