Universal phone charger announced as mobile manufacturers go green

The mobile phone industry has announced that it will be introducing a universal charger as part of its plan to become more environmentally friendly. The new plan by the industry body GSM Association (GSMA) is part of a bigger plan to go ‘green’ and was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The majority of the major phone manufacturers have signed up to use the universal charger, which uses the same micro-USB connection found in the Blackberry Storm. New mobile phone that use the universal charger will start being sold toward the end of the year, and the GSMA has pledged that the majority of phones shipped in 2012 will use the charger.

The mobile phone industry has long been the focus of environmental groups, who say that it is one of the least green sectors of technology, but at the Mobile World Congress things are changing. A number of phone manufacturers now make new devices from recycled materials, with Samsung and LG both unveiling solar powered phone, which will be released later this year.