Mobile phones that are awarded the Blue Angel must comply with a comprehensive range of criteria according to DE-UZ 106 – focussing on e.g. their durability, energy saving properties, testing of pollutants, low levels of emissions or recyclable design – in order to carry the ecolabel. The strict requirements are developed and regularly examined by the German Environment Agency. At the same time, the whole life cycle of the product in always taken into account in the evaluation of the products.
Many consumers are already familiar with the Blue Angel in other contexts, e.g. on goods such as recycled paper or low-emission paints. In fact, the ecolabel has certified around 20,000 environmentally friendly products in total from more than 1,600 companies.
Miquel Ballester, Head Designer at Fairphone, is delighted by the award of the label: “We are honoured to once again be awarded the Blue Angel and believe that we can use it to raise awareness for sustainability issues – and their solutions – in the electronics industry. We believe that this is an important step towards inspiring the entire sector to produce products that have a longer service life and are more environmentally friendly. The Fairphone 4 is now the second smartphone to be awarded this ecolabel (the first was the Fairphone 2).”
About Fairphone
Fairphone is building a market for ethical smartphones and motivating the industry to act more responsibly. We develop, produce and sell smartphones to uncover the supply chain behind our products, raise more awareness for the most urgent problems and demonstrate that it is possible to do things differently. In cooperation with our partners and employees, we are thus committed to ensuring that protecting people and the environment becomes an intrinsic part of our business activities.
About the Blue Angel ecolabel
The Blue Angel has been the ecolabel of the German federal government for more than 40 years and the guide for sustainable purchasing. It is an independent and credible label that sets stringent standards for environmentally friendly products and services. The Blue Angel guarantees that the products or services it certifies meet high standards when it comes to its environmental, health and performance characteristics. The whole life cycle of the product or service is always taken into account in the assessment process. Criteria are developed for each product group and must be complied with by those products and services holding the Blue Angel. In order to reflect any technological developments, the German Environment Agency checks the criteria every three to four years. This ensures that companies are required to make their products even more environmentally friendly over time.
Presentation of certificates
Blue Angel awarded to the sustainable smartphone “Fairphone 4”
© Foto "Fairphone"