The company plans to incorporate the material across its entire product lineup.
When Samsung unveils its 2022 Galaxy S lineup on February 9th, the phones will be made in part of a new, more sustainable material. The company announced on Sunday that it has begun using ocean-bound plastic made from discarded fishing nets in its latest devices. Samsung stated that the material would first be used in products, announced next week before being used throughout the company’s entire device lineup.
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As Samsung notes, we tend to think of plastic bottles and grocery bags as the main culprit of ocean debris like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but its microplastics and discarded nets that marine biologists are most worried about. Derelict fishing gear leads to ghost fishing, a phenomenon where those tools continue to trap and kill marine life, including endangered species like the Hawaiian monk seal. With more than 640,000 tons worth of fishing nets discarded every year, it’s a problem that’s only getting worse.
Samsung isn’t the first company to incorporate discarded trash into its devices. Last year, Microsoft announced the Ocean Plastic Mouse. It features a shell made from 20 percent recovered plastic. Like Microsoft, Samsung is positioning its use of ocean-bound plastics as part of its larger sustainability push. In 2019, under pressure from consumers and environmentalists, the company said it would begin using more sustainable materials in the packaging of its devices.
