Samsung Electronics has announced it will begin this year to replace its plastic packaging materials with environmentally sustainable materials.
The company disclosed on Monday that “eco-friendly materials” will directly replace its initial plastic packaging for phones, tablets, and accessories. The Korean tech giant said this change will take effect from the first half of 2019. Part of the plan is to change the design of its phone charges to reduce plastic usage. To make this a reality, the glossy exterior will simply be swapped with a matte finish. Samsung will also replace the plastic bags used in covering its TVs, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. The devices will now be protected with sustainable materials and bio-plastics derived from non-fossil fuel sources such as starch and sugar cane.
Beginning from next year, 2020, the company’s packaging and manuals will be produced using only papers certified by global environmental organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council, Samsung added.
Samsung has established a task force in order to revamp its product packaging. The newly formed task force oversees designing, developing, purchasing, marketing as well as quality control for innovative packaging ideas.
As part of Samsung’s circular economy policy, it had set a target to use 500 thousand tons of recycled plastics by 2030. The tech company also aims at collecting about 7.5 million tons of discarded products within the same time frame.
Head of Samsung’s Global Customer Satisfaction Center, Gyeong-bin Jeon said the company plans to step up and tackle “society’s environmental issues such as resource depletion and plastic wastes.” Jeon explained that Samsung is committed to resources recycling and also working towards minimizing the amount of waste produced. Samsung will adopt more environmentally sustainable materials though it may imply an increase in cost, he added.
As of last year, over 40 businesses; the likes of Unilever, P&G, and Coca-Cola, pledged to ensure a reduction in plastic pollution. As part of the pledge, the companies removed unnecessary single-use packaging while ensuring that they effectively recycle about 70 percent of their plastic packaging.
Nestle announced earlier this month that the company plans to start the scrapping plastic straws beginning from February. The beverage manufacturer also intends to have started working on biodegradable water bottles by then. Starbucks also announced that plans have been concluded to remove all single-use plastic straws from all of its stores by 2020.
