Discarded Fishing Nets and Plastic Bottles Transform into a Stunning 'Galaxy S23'

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Samsung Electronics has expanded the application of recycled materials in its flagship smartphone series, the 'Galaxy S23' series. They developed materials recycled from waste water bottles and discarded fishing nets to create eco-friendly smartphones. Under the vision of Everyday Sustainability, the plan is to minimize the environmental impact on the planet while maintaining product quality.

Park Sung-sun, Vice President and Head of Mechanical Development Team at Samsung Electronics MX Division, held a 'Galaxy S23 Series Eco-friendly Technology Briefing' at the press room in Taepyeongno Building, Jung-gu, Seoul, stating, "By 2030, we will apply 50% recycled plastic to plastic parts used in products, and by 2050, 100% recycled plastic."

Samsung Electronics began efforts to reduce single-use plastic in flagship smartphone packaging as early as 2017. The goal is to completely eliminate plastic from all Galaxy product packaging by 2025.

The top model of the S23 series used a total of 12 recycled material components. The S23 Plus and S23 models each applied 11 components. In comparison, the previous S22 applied recycled materials to a total of 6 internal components, nearly doubling in just one year.

The S23 series not only used recycled plastics from discarded fishing nets and waste water bottles as in the previous model but also newly developed and applied ▲ recycled plastic from waste PET bottles ▲ recycled aluminum from by-products generated during manufacturing ▲ recycled glass from cullet generated during manufacturing.

Recycled plastic (PA: Polyamide) made with 20% recycled fishing net material was applied to the internal S Pen cover of the Ultra model and the lower speaker module. Vice President Park said, "We expect to collect and recycle more than 15 tons of discarded fishing nets throughout 2023."

Recycled plastic (PC: Polycarbonates) made with 20% recycled waste water bottle material was applied to the upper and lower speaker modules, side keys, and volume keys.

Recycled plastic (PBT: Polybutylene Terephthalate) made with 10% recycled PET bottle material was used on the front of the outer case. Additionally, a film made with 80% of the same material was used inside the rear glass of the product.

Recycled aluminum made with 28% pre-consumer aluminum by-products generated during manufacturing was applied to the side keys, volume keys, and SIM card tray on the side of the product.

Also, glass containing an average of 22% recycled pre-consumer glass by-products was used for the front and rear exterior glass of the product.

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Samsung Electronics was able to implement its 'eco-friendly strategy' thanks to collaboration among about 100 in-house personnel and various partners. A representative partner is the American glass specialist manufacturer 'Corning.' Samsung applied 'Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2' to the front and rear glass of the Galaxy S23 series. This glass contains 22% recycled material from glass by-products generated during manufacturing.

Vice President Park said, "It took about two years of development with Corning (to make the glass)" and added, "Because recycled materials cover a wide range including plastic, metal, and glass, we are working closely with partners."

Samsung Electronics also plans to continue efforts to extend product usage cycles so consumers can use products longer. They enhanced water and dust resistance and will provide a total of four OS upgrades and five years of security updates after the Galaxy S23 launch. They also consider design for consumers to disassemble and reassemble phones themselves, aligned with countries operating 'self-repair programs' such as the U.S. and France.

Samsung is also promoting the expansion of recycled plastic material components beyond smartphones to home appliances such as refrigerators and TVs. Vice President Park said, "There are several development exchange meetings, so cross-collaboration between business units is possible," and added, "When information is shared with developers related to home appliances like refrigerators and TVs, those departments develop and apply the materials appropriately."

Furthermore, to diversify recycled materials beyond plastic, Samsung is analyzing the usage status of rare resources such as gold, cobalt, and rare earth elements. Vice President Park said, "We are analyzing the usage status of rare resources through partners," and added, "Although we cannot disclose a specific development roadmap, we will continue to use more recycled components compared to previous models."

Samsung Electronics views the burden of applying eco-friendly materials from a social contribution perspective and intends to minimize price increases. Vice President Park said, "Applying recycled materials may put pressure on prices, but this is a corporate social responsibility, so we will not raise prices," and added, "We will minimize price increases through optimized process design."

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