O2 UK’s trial of selling the HTC One X+ smartphone without a USB charger has seen the majority of buyers take up the option without buying a separate charger.

The operator’s ‘Charger Out Of The Box’ scheme was launched in October and has seen 82 percent of consumers take the option to buy the phone without the charger included. O2 had targeted a 70 percent uptake.

Despite not including the USB charger, the HTC device was sold with the USB-to-micro-USB connection lead, allowing users to charge devices through their computers.

The results of the trial pave the way for Telefonica-owned O2 to sell all phones in the UK without chargers by 2015 as part of its ‘Think Big Blueprint’.

The company estimates there are 100 million unused chargers in the UK that are either duplicates of existing kit or form old handsets. If the results of the trial were to be repeated for all new phones sold in the UK each year, it would see 24 million fewer chargers sold, generating a significant environmental saving.

“The results of the trial demonstrate a clear willingness among consumers to consider and respond to the environmental argument for taking a phone charger-free,” said O2 UK CEO Ronan Dunne.

“This pilot demonstrates that, if we inform our customers about the environmental impact of wasted phone chargers and the benefits of using the chargers and mains adapters that they already own, they respond positively to the message,” added HTC’s UK regional director Phil Roberson.