South Korean smartphone and electronics manufacturer Samsung's new smartphone, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, will have components made from repurposed fishing nets and other post-consumer materials.
The fishing nets are repurposed as polyamide for the phone's stylus holder and key brackets for the volume and power buttons, along with glass fibre. The inner volume and power buttons are made from post-consumer polycarbonate. Post-consumer polycarbonate and glass fibre are used for the speaker module. The phone's packaging is made from 100pc recycled paper.
Discarded fishing nets contribute to the 12mn t/yr of plastic ending up in oceans, according to Samsung. These nets often trap and entangle marine wildlife, damage coral reefs, and have the potential to end up in food and water sources.
The firm intends to use repurposed ocean-bound plastics in all its Galaxy product lineups, as part of its plans to eliminate the use of single-use plastics. Samsung expects its efforts to remove more than 50t of old fishing nets from the oceans.
Last year, US technology firm Microsoft tied up with Saudi petrochemical producer Sabic to create a computer mouse made from recycled ocean plastic.
