White paper on mobile phone e-waste for Cinch

The global consumer technology market has surged in the past two decades, with annual new mobile phone sales rising from 0.4 billion in 2000 to over 1.7 billion in 2017. This growth has created a mounting challenge: electronic waste (e-waste). 

Cinch, Asia’s leading device subscription platform, addresses this challenge by offering end-to-end device lifecycle management, from procurement and deployment to maintenance and recycling. This model ensures flexible, affordable, and sustainable access to devices.  

While Cinch was aware of their positive contribution, they had yet to establish a method to measure and demonstrate their environmental, social, and economic impact. We supported Cinch in designing a theory of change and establishing baseline metrics to track impact as the business scales. We further analysed the environmental impact of e-waste, consumer awareness and behaviour, and global circular models—such as repairable manufacturing, recommerce, and device subscriptions—to identify key enablers and gaps for sustainable device use. From this, we outlined three key requirements for implementing such models in Singapore and developed recommendations for Cinch and others to build a circular ecosystem. 

Together with Cinch, and with contributions from ALBA Group Asia and CompAsia, we consolidated these insights into a white paper, titled “Rethinking E-Waste – How Singapore’s consumer tech ecosystem is building a blueprint for a circular economy in Southeast Asia”. The collaboration equipped Cinch with a credible impact measurement approach, strengthened their differentiation, and opened conversations with new stakeholders. The white paper was featured in The Straits Times and e27.  

To read further on topics like why Singapore-based consumers have 2.9 million old phones gathering dust in their drawers, access the white paper on Cinch’s website here.