Environmental standards firm UL Environment aims to create a means of figuring out just how green mobile phones are.

 

Some of the manufacturers of the 4.6 billion handsets in use today offer information on the environmental impact of the devices, but no standard approach exists to compare different brands and models.

 

Illinois-based ULE, the environmental arm of safety certifier Underwriters Laboratories, is developing sustainability standards for handheld consumer electronics, Greenbiz reports. 

 

Starting with the mobile phone, the standards will take into account the full life cycle of each device, from raw material extraction to disposal, and will include energy efficiency, recycled content, packaging and other key environmental data.

 

Some companies have created their own guidelines for designing and labeling cell phones with lower impacts, such as Sony Ericsson's GreenHeart line, but there is no industry-wide method for determining the sustainability of phones.

 

The standards will take on input from manufacturers, governments, non-governmental organizations and consumer groups. An initial draft is expected by the end of the year.