Vodafone Group committed to distribute SIMs made from recycled plastic across operations in Europe, South Africa, Egypt and Turkey, with the company eventually aiming to eliminate the need for the cards completely.

In the latest pledge to cut the environmental impact of its operations, Vodafone stated the Eco-SIM would fit the half-sized slots in devices it has offered since 2020.

Vodafone estimated the use of recycled plastic in the cards would eliminate the need for 320 tonnes of new plastic to be manufactured each year, potentially saving 1,280 tonnes of CO2e annually. This is in addition to savings made from previous moves to use smaller cards.

In a statement Vodafone CCO Alex Froment-Curtil noted the operator’s “ultimate goal is to eliminate the need to supply plastic SIMs entirely”.

“We have already halved the amount of plastic used in our SIM cards, and the introduction of Eco-SIMs made from recycled plastic will further reduce the environmental impact of our activities.”

Vodafone added while it offers eSIM in all of its European markets, most of its customers still required a physical SIM due to lack of handset compatibility.