Closing the Loop

Closing the Loop is a Dutch social enterprise based in Amsterdam that provides a closed-loop service for mobile phones. Its central proposition is to help companies, institutions, and other phone users reduce the waste impact associated with their devices. The organization does this through a one-for-one model: for each phone covered by a customer’s service, Closing the Loop arranges the collection and recycling of a broken or discarded phone, generally in an African country where informal collection networks recover end-of-life devices. The customer’s working phone is thereby treated as material-neutral rather than simply being offset through a general environmental contribution. The organization was founded in 2012 by Joost de Kluijver. Its origins lay in an effort to draw attention to the environmental and social consequences of discarded electronics. Closing the Loop’s approach developed from the observation that broken mobile phones still contain valuable materials, including gold, silver, copper, and other recyclable metals. Instead of allowing these devices to be burned, dumped, or handled through unsafe informal methods, the organization sought to connect local collection activity in emerging markets with formal recycling facilities in Europe. Closing the Loop buys and collects scrap phones through informal local collector networks in African countries. These networks provide additional income to people who gather discarded devices, while the phones are transported to Europe for recycling. The model recognizes that many used phones exported from Europe and North America receive a second life in African markets, but that once they become unusable they may be exposed to unsafe disposal practices. Closing the Loop’s service is intended to address this later stage in the product life cycle rather than focusing only on the sale or reuse of functioning devices. The company presents electronic waste as both an environmental challenge and a circular-economy opportunity. Mobile phones can contain recoverable metals, and responsible collection can reduce the risk that devices will end up in open dumps or be burned to extract materials. Informal burning of electronic waste can release toxic fumes and create risks for workers, nearby communities, and the environment. Closing the Loop’s model attempts to combine formal downstream recycling with safer income-generating collection work. Its customers have included Shiftphone, T-Mobile, KPMG, the City of Utrecht, Rabobank, and the Dutch national government. The service has therefore been used in consumer electronics, telecommunications, professional services, banking, and public-sector settings. The organization also frames its work in relation to the circular economy and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. According to figures cited in reference material, it had helped save more than 2.2 million mobile phones from African dumps, enabled more than 145,000 phones to receive a second life, and supported additional income through safer employment for more than 2,000 people in Africa. These impact figures are presented as organizational achievements, but the available material does not specify a reporting date. Closing the Loop’s principal brand position is consequently the combination of mobile-phone waste reduction, responsible materials recovery, and social impact in emerging-market collection networks.

Closing the Loop emerged from an effort to make the electronics industry more aware of the consequences of electronic waste. Joost de Kluijver founded the organization in 2012 after beginning work through an NGO focused on the impact of discarded electronics. The initiative developed into a social enterprise built around a practical demonstration: broken mobile phones retain material value because they contain recoverable metals such as gold, silver, and copper. The company’s operating model connects three stages that are often separated in the mobile-phone economy. First, it works with customers that use, sell, or provide mobile phones. Second, it finances the collection of broken or discarded phones in African countries through local collector networks. Third, it arranges for the collected waste to be shipped to formal recycling facilities in Europe. The result is a one-for-one service in which a customer’s phone is associated with the recovery and recycling of an equivalent end-of-life phone. Closing the Loop describes this as making the customer’s phone use material-neutral or waste-free. A key early development occurred in 2015, when the first container of collected mobile phones was shipped from Ghana to Europe for proper recycling. This established the cross-border logistics behind the organization’s model: collection takes place close to where end-of-life devices are available, while downstream treatment is carried out through European recycling infrastructure. The approach also reflects the complex life cycle of mobile phones. Devices from Europe and the United States may be reused in African markets, but once they are broken or obsolete they can enter informal disposal channels. Closing the Loop’s rationale is both environmental and social. In places where electronic waste is dumped, workers may burn devices to recover metals. Such practices can expose people to toxic fumes and create wider environmental and health hazards. By purchasing scrap phones and working with local collection networks, the organization seeks to provide safer income opportunities while diverting material from dumpsites. Formal recycling then allows valuable metals and other components to be recovered under more controlled conditions. The service has been adopted or used by organizations including Shiftphone, T-Mobile, KPMG, the City of Utrecht, Rabobank, and the Dutch national government. This customer base illustrates the service’s applicability across telecommunications, device manufacturing, professional services, finance, and government procurement. Rather than selling a conventional consumer product, Closing the Loop embeds its proposition in organizational purchasing, phone-use policies, and sustainability programs. The organization has reported impact in terms of phones diverted from dumps, phones receiving a second life, and people gaining additional income through collection work. The reference material attributes more than 2.2 million phones saved from African dumps, more than 145,000 phones given a second life, and additional income through safer employment for more than 2,000 people in Africa, without providing a precise reporting date. Closing the Loop’s continuing identity is therefore that of a circular-economy service provider focused on mobile phones, responsible materials recovery, and social value in emerging-market collection systems.

• 2015

  First phone shipment from Ghana to Europe

  [1]Closing the Loopen.wikipedia.org

  The organization shipped its first container of collected mobile phones from Ghana to Europe for formal recycling, demonstrating its cross-border collection and recycling model.

• 2012

  Closing the Loop founded

  [1]Closing the Loopen.wikipedia.org

  Joost de Kluijver founded Closing the Loop after earlier work intended to raise awareness of the electronic-waste problem and the value still contained in discarded electronics.

A social-enterprise service that helps organizations make mobile-phone use more circular by pairing device use with the collection and formal recycling of an equivalent end-of-life phone.

• Circular-economy service

  One-for-one mobile-phone recycling service

  Closing the Loop’s core service links a customer’s mobile-phone use to the collection and recycling of an equivalent broken or discarded phone. The organization buys or collects end-of-life devices through local networks in African countries and sends them to European recycling facilities. The service is designed for companies, institutions, and other organizations seeking to reduce the waste footprint of their mobile-phone fleets, sales, or procurement programs.

• E-waste management

  End-of-life phone collection and recycling

  This operational offering covers the sourcing, purchase, aggregation, transport, and formal recycling of broken mobile phones. Collection is carried out through informal local collector networks, while downstream recycling takes place in Europe. The model aims to divert phones from dumpsites and unsafe burning, recover valuable metals, and create additional income for people involved in collection.

• 2026-08-14

  GSMA launches Circular Services program with Closing the Loop and RGX[2]GSMA携手Closing the Loop和RGX推出循环服务项目finance.sina.com.cn

  Reported: 2026-08-14

  GSMA launched a new "Circular Services" program to help mobile operators reduce waste and recover value from used devices through refurbishment and responsible recycling. The program integrates services from commercial partners Closing the Loop, which focuses on smartphone recycling, and RGX, an online platform for e-waste management and enterprise asset disposal. RGX's platform is currently available only in the US, with plans to expand to broader regions.

1. 1Closing the Loopen.wikipedia.org
2. 2GSMA携手Closing the Loop和RGX推出循环服务项目finance.sina.com.cn