Nokia has just announced that they and other mobile phone manufacturers have agreed on initiatives designed to reduce the pollution caused during the manufacture and disposal of mobile phones.

The group of the most prominent mobile phone manufacturers including companies such as Motorola, Panasonic, France Telecom, TeliaSonera and Intel has agreed on a package of measures to reduce their environmental impact. Reductions in the use of hazardous materials and energy consumption are some of the key aims of the group. Additionally, improvements in the numbers of phones collected in take-back schemes for recycling and better information for consumers to raise environmental awareness are further aims for the group.

“It is important that the mobile industry continues to pave the way for customers to return unwanted mobile phones”, said Charlotte Grezo Vodafone Director for Corporate responsibility.

In other news Nokia announced a new agreement with Microsoft to build in Live Search capabilities into Nokia’s Mobile Search function. This will enable users to access Live Search directly through their Nokia N-Series smart mobile phones and other Nokia mobile phones operating on Series 60 software. Nokia has also announced a similar agreement with Yahoo to further boost the multimedia capabilities of their mobile phone range.