Motorola and Nokia appear to be violating recycling rules by not collecting phone packages, while other firms . . . including Samsung and Sony Ericsson . . . either said they did not have to comply with or were unsure of their compliance status.

Under current waste management regulations, large firms involved in the import, production, distribution or retailing of packaged products are obliged to pay for the recycling of packaging material, but neither Motorola nor Nokia are doing so.

Companies obliged to recycle packaging can either join the state-backed recycling initiative Repak or self-comply, which means recovering packaging waste themselves.

According to current regulations, self-compliant firms are obliged to collect 50% of the packaging imported, packed and supplied in the previous quarter.

When queried on how it was recycling packaging waste, Nokia first said it was a member of Repak. However, a spokesperson for Repak said that the company was "definitely not one of our members".

Nokia had made initial contact with Repak in 2004, but never became a member. A spokesman for Nokia said the company was meeting Repak this week to arrange membership.

Motorola meanwhile said that it was neither a member of Repak nor self-complying.

"Motorola is not currently collecting packaging in Ireland as extensive research has shown us that consumers are not willing to give up our packaging, " said John O'Connell, Motorola's senior manager for global packaging.

"They hold onto the boxes for three main reasons. They like the tidy package for storing the parts and manual in one place, they prefer to have original packaging on hand in case a return is required, and when they choose to upgrade to a new phone, they can earn more when reselling a used phone with original packaging, " O'Connell added.

Under packaging regulations, major producers who fail to collect sufficient packaging waste from customers can meet their targets by purchasing packaging waste from other sources and sending it for recycling. This is the approach taken by Sanyo Ireland, which has registered as self-compliant and has contracted waste collector Veolia to assist it in collecting packaging waste.

Two other leading mobile phone brands, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, were also contacted. Samsung said that it is not an Irish-registered company, but rather part of Samsung UK, which has registered a place of business in Ireland and as such claimed it was not required to comply with the legislation. By the time of going to press Sony Ericsson was unable to say what it was doing to comply with packaging regulations.

The firm is not a member of Repak, nor is it registered with any local authority as self compliant.

When queried by the Sunday Tribune, several electronics firms expressed confusion about whether they or retailers were obligated under recycling regulations.

A spokesperson for the department of the environment and local government said that take-back obligations and quarterly targets cannot be passed on to other firms further down the packaging supply chain.

Repak chief executive Andrew Hetherington last week warned that non-compliance with regulations was driving up the costs of recycling for compliant firms.

While Repak will not name any companies it believes to be non-compliant, it said that electronics, wholesale drinks importers and car manufacturers were sectors of concern.