Tele2 launches half-sized SIMs to reduce plastic waste
One focus area in Tele2’s sustainability strategy is advancing circular economy to combat climate change. To maximize resource utilization and minimize waste, Tele2 strives to reduce, reuse and recycle – in that priority order. In line with this, Tele2 Sweden is now reducing the plastic waste originating from the millions of SIM card holders the company sends out each year.
– Plastic is a persistent material with long-term negative effects on the environment. From the physical impact on entangled animals, to the widespread microplastic pollution in our oceans, lakes and rivers. We strive to reduce the plastic waste in all parts of our supply chain and seeing that SIM cards constitute the very core of a mobile offering and are provided to almost all customers, I am very proud of the fact that Tele2 Sweden is first in the Nordics to introduce this change, says Erik Wottrich, Head of Sustainability at Tele2.
Traditional SIM cards comes in holders in credit card format. By decreasing the holder size by half, each card requires half as much raw material and weight 55 percent less. As such, Tele2 Sweden does not only save about 6 tons of plastic each year, but also decrease CO2 emissions with 35 tons.
– We do not stop here. As our next step, we are conducting a pilot using SIM cards and half-sized holders made solely from recycled plastics, in order to reduce the environmental and climate impact further, says Erik Wottrich.
Tele2 has a long-term commitment to decrease its scope 3 emissions and encourage consumers to become more aware of sustainability. In January 2021 Tele2 launched, as the first operator in Sweden, A Good Company’s circular mobile cases made from waste of local linseed farming in Sweden.
For more information, please contact:
Joel Ibson, Head of Corporate Communications, Phone: +46 766 26 44 00
Marcus Lindberg, Head of Investor Relations, Phone: +46 73 439 25 40
Tele2’s vision is to be the smartest telco in the world, creating a society of unlimited possibilities. Ever since Tele2 was founded in 1993, we have continued to challenge prevailing norms and dusty monopolies. Today our networks enable mobile and fixed connectivity, telephony, data network services, TV, streaming and global IoT solutions for millions of customers. We drive growth through customer satisfaction and smart combined offerings. Tele2 has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 1996. In 2020, Tele2 generated revenue of SEK 27 billion and reported an underlying EBITDAaL of SEK 9 billion. For latest news and definitions of measures, please see our homepage www.tele2.com.
