Summary

• Kenneth Abraham, Supervisor for CVD Fab Ops at Samsung Austin Semiconductor, re-purposes junk material and scrap metal to build vehicles – all in his spare time
• Combining creativity with mechanical know-how and a healthy dose of hard work, Kenneth has managed to turn the most inane of discarded items – such as old office chairs – into fully-functioning vehicles
• Kenneth applies the patience and dedication his hobby has taught him to all aspects of his life – personal as well as professional

The answer to the question of ‘what happens next’ with something once we’ve finished using it is usually a simple one. Paper and plastic go into recycling bins to be given new life and old electronics can be returned to be re-purposed. But what happens to bigger ticket items that run out of steam? Most of the time, they end up in dumps or scrap heaps; and our knowledge about what happens next ends there.

However, some enterprising individuals have found a way to harness their creativity and know-how to breathe second life into these abandoned scraps. One such enterprising individual is Kenneth Abraham, of Samsung Austin Semiconductor, whose hobby has developed from a childhood interest in unique vehicles to the ability to repurpose nonfunctioning junk into fully operational vehicles.

Diamonds in the Rough

Kenneth’s interest in building vehicles stems from a childhood spent in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range in California. An area where people often live unwalkable distances from each other, Kenneth grew up commandeering dirt bikes and other more unusual forms of transportation in order to travel around. He and his older brother would also pass the time re-building vintage sports bikes together; an activity that would lead him to his interest in re-vitalizing the discarded.

“My brother and I had just finished putting together a ‘90s Honda CBR and had an aluminum frame left over from the parts we used,” recalls Kenneth. “My brother mentioned he was going to recycle it, but I looked at it and saw the potential for a trike – I mentioned this to my brother and our project started from there.”

Kenneth and his first creation – a trike

Kenneth had always enjoyed building things but was put off by the cost of new materials – particularly given the limited options his hometown had on offer. Therefore, he learnt to modify what he found while out visiting junkyards and turn it, through some creative thinking and mechanical know-how, into what he needed for his creations.

Crafting Something Out of Nothing

Kenneth primarily honed his mechanical knowledge and skills through practice on abandoned, broken-down vehicles. But this soon developed into him creating his own vehicles from discarded scrap. Kenneth is able to manage each and every step in the re-purposing process, from scrap collection to test driving. This is no easy feat considering the wealth of safety and technical considerations that go into such projects – not the mention the eagle eye for spotting potential in the discarded that is a must.

His first project, a trike (three-wheeled motorcycle), demonstrates Kenneth’s eye for re-purposing. “The trike’s frame came from a ’97 Honda bike that I cut down, the seat was made from an old office chair, a 50-gallon drum became the rear fender, and an old helmet visor became the front windshield,” notes Kenneth on just a few of the re-purposed components he created his trike from.

Kenneth transformed an old drum container (left) into the rear fender of his vehicle (right)

Another building accomplishment of Kenneth’s is his riding cooler; having seen the vehicle on offer at what he considered extortionate prices, Kenneth set out determined to make his own. “I found a motor assist chair at a Goodwill Auction that was not working, so I bought and repaired – it had some wiring issues. I then took the chair apart, built a box to hold my cooler and equipped the machine with lights and a stereo.”

Kenneth transformed an obsolete motor assist chair (left) into a riding cooler (right)

Powering Through Obstacles

In developing this childhood hobby through to engine-roaring fruition, Kenneth cites his older brother, Elroy, as his inspiration. Having at age 13 watched him customize the dash on his Volkswagen Beetle, Kenneth became determined to pursue this hobby himself. He says that, nowadays, his hobby serves to give him a different perspective on his day-to-day work at Samsung Electronics. Not only this, but thanks to the 5S workplace organizational methodology employed by Samsung Austin Semiconductor, he is now sure to keep his hobby work area 5S-compliant for maximum efficiency and safety.

Further to the harmony that Kenneth has achieved between his work and his passion, the biggest takeaway he has to share is simple – just to take a break every once in a while. “Sometimes things don’t go together as you thought, and you can get really frustrated,” Kenneth muses. “I have found that simply stopping to take a breath can calm your mind and let you see something you were missing before.”

Kenneth posing proudly with another of his creations, a motorized picnic table

Of course, Kenneth often comes up against challenges – particularly when looking to replicate features seen on traditionally manufactured machines on his own inventions. But the motto inscribed on his work bench represents his drive, even in times of difficulty; ‘Doubt Kills More Dreams Than Failure Ever Will.’

Kenneth’s unusual and laborious hobby might seem somewhat out of the reach of those of us who don’t possess knowledge on the workings of either mechanical engineering or how to re-purpose scrap; but his commitment to achieving his goals and not giving up at the first setback is a universally admirable quality. Kenneth even has some wise words for anyone looking to take up any enterprising hobby: “just try it – you might surprise yourself!”

In part two of our “Strides in Stewardship” series, we explore some of the ways Samsung is providing new value for customers and the environment through its green practices and eco-friendly mobile innovations.

Using Sustainable Materials and Technologies to Create a Sustainable World

How can a smartphone be eco-friendly? Samsung works tirelessly to develop materials with improved eco-properties through collaborative projects between various departments including R&D and quality management.

As a result of this effort, the company has released products containing bio-material using industrial corn, mineral-based plastic and a novel application of polyketone, a polymer produced with carbon monoxide captured during the formulary process, used in TVs for the first time in the industry.

Samsung also uses recycled plastics for select products after classifying, cleaning and remanufacturing plastics from collected waste products in collaboration with recycling companies. The Galaxy S8, for example, uses recycled plastic in its inner packaging tray (30 percent) and charging adapter (20 percent). Half of the phone’s box is made up of recycled paper while its packaging and manual are printed with soy ink.

Energy efficiency is another consideration for sustainability. For example, the Galaxy S8’s Fast Charging Charger (5V/2A, 9V/1.67A) is optimized with low no-load power consumption (0.02w) and enhanced charging efficiency (86 percent).

Such efforts are the reasons why Samsung’s devices have continuously been recognized for their sustainable design and technology, achieving eco-labels in many markets around the world. The Galaxy S8, for example, has been granted a number of eco-labels including EPEAT and ECOLOGO Gold Certification by UL (USA), Carbon Trust (U.K.), Vitality Leaf (Russia) and Selo Colibri (Brazil).

Green and Clean: Responsible Chemical Management

With the expansion of worldwide RoHS and REACH-like regulations, Samsung increasingly conducts rigorous inspections and management procedures for raw materials and parts it uses to ensure it provides safe, responsible products for customers.

Among the company’s management efforts include the maintenance of an Environmental Analysis Lab for analyzing hazardous substances and volatile organic compounds, and an in-house monitoring process on restricted substances. Furthermore, Samsung has trained more than 650 internal auditors to execute environmental quality control to ensure that restricted substances are not intentionally present in its products.

The company also operates the Eco-Partner Certification Program, a comprehensive environmental initiative, to assess the environmental impact of product components, raw materials and the manufacturing processes of its suppliers. To ensure the efficiency of the program, Samsung has developed the Environmental-Chemicals Integrated Management System (e-CIMS) to monitor hazardous substances used by its Eco-Partners, and works only with companies that have acquired all necessary eco-related certification. Currently, Samsung manages 1,058 partners – a number that has quadrupled since 2010.

Additionally, the company has been voluntarily working to completely phase out the use of potentially dangerous chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and phthalates, and is continuously reducing usage of hazardous substances in its products.

Environmentally Conscious Product Assessment and Development

Over the past few years, Samsung has conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its leading smartphones. This methodology assesses 12 potential environmental impacts such as global warming, ocean acidification and ozone layer depletion contained at each stage of a product’s life cycle, from design and manufacturing, to purchase and usage, to end-of-life processing and disposal.

This technique was first implemented in 2015 with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note5, and was followed through to the Galaxy Note8, Samsung’s most recent flagship smartphone. The devices that underwent the 12 processes showed their largest environmental impact in the areas of pre-manufacturing and distribution. Based on LCA results, these areas are where Samsung is putting its focus on improving energy efficiency and reducing supply chain emissions of the devices, thus reducing the environmental impact of the products.

In line with its commitment to constantly improve energy efficiency and recyclability, and reduce hazardous substances in products, Samsung has also established its own Eco-rating System which evaluates the sustainability performance of every product development project. The rating system consists of three grades – Premium Eco-Product, Good Eco-Product and Eco-Product – which are designated based on a product’s energy efficiency, resource efficiency and compliance with global environmental standards.

Through continuous revision and evaluation of standards, Samsung reflects new eco features and the latest environmental innovation in its products. Product ratings have been increasingly improving, and the company is striving to have 90 percent of new development projects receive the Good Eco-Product stamp of approval or higher by 2020.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Contributing to a Circular Economy

To do its part to support the circular economy, Samsung is partaking in a variety of activities that improve resource efficiency and reuse resources. These initiatives include extending the periods of product use by offering services such as repairing products, upgrading firmware for performance improvement and extending warranty coverage periods.

Additionally, rather than just discarding returned mobile products, Samsung changes their parts, reinstalls software and repackages them as refurbished devices, selling them at reduced prices. Provided in the U.S. and U.K., this service improves resource efficiency by facilitating the reuse of goods.

For instance, Samsung earlier this year announced plans for reusing and recycling select components of Galaxy Note7 devices. Parts such as OLED display modules, memory chips, camera modules and raw materials have since been used for service purposes, sold as components or incorporated into the Galaxy Note FE, working with companies that specialize in the collection of recycling materials.

Another ongoing project by Samsung is C-lab’s Galaxy Upcycling, which provides an environmentally-responsible way for old Galaxy mobile devices to be recycled. Seventy percent of used devices is left untouched after three years of their launch, and the number of such products is estimated to be 0.2 billion units every year. Those devices that might otherwise be forgotten in desk drawers or discarded are utilized to build new IoT open platforms, CCTV systems, game consoles and more.

Samsung is also making multiple efforts to reuse resources by conducting activities such as the establishment of waste product collection systems, an expanded use of recycled materials and global take-back and recycling programs in approximately 60 countries.

Creating a more sustainable economy will change the world in many ways, and Samsung will continue to do all it can to implement environmental and resource-related solutions while providing consumers with an increasing number and quality of responsibly-designed products.

It is often said that the world is running out of oil reserves, and humanity only has enough for a couple more decades. One reason for this is the sheer amount of resources that are being wasted. Many products are simply used once, and then thrown in the garbage. That sort of waste is costly – both in terms of disposal costs and for the burden it imposes on the environment.

However, an environmentally-conscious trend has emerged that aims at mitigating this problem – the “Circular Economy.” As opposed to a linear economy, in which resources are used one time and then thrown away, the circular economy works to minimize resource waste, boosting sustainability by repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing products.

The circular economy represents a major policy initiative, focusing both on boosting economic development and environmental protection. It reduces the costs of extracting and processing resources, while lessening the environmental impact caused by excessive waste. To implement a circular-style economic system, companies need to decrease the quantity of natural resources they use and redesign their production system so resources can last longer. Additionally, products should be reused after production, recycled after disposal to find new life.

Circular Economy Efforts Globally

Today, many countries are working toward circular economies. In particular, the nations of the European Union (“EU”) have been the most active in making this transition. The EU first put forward a Circular Economy Package in July 2014 and is continuing to improve its associated systems and technical standards.

Major international cooperation organizations, including the UN and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), are also encouraging the development of related circular economy policies, conducting a wide range of research into efficient resource utilization. That research includes how to assess resource sustainability, mineral recycling rates, and economic policy.

In the electronics industry, the circular economy requires designing products that are easy to upgrade and repair, as well as increasing the use of recyclable parts. More changes will occur in the manufacturing industry as various EU policies take effect, including in the areas of resource efficiency, product policies, waste alleviation, and finance.

How Samsung Reuses, Conserves, and Uses Resources Longer

To do its part to support the circular economy, Samsung Electronics is engaging in a range of activities that improve the efficiency of its resource usage and minimize the waste it generates. Among those steps, Samsung is trying to ease the repair and recycling of its products from the planning and designing stages, as well as prohibiting the use of harmful elements in its parts.

One example is with recycling plastics. Samsung Electronics is increasingly using plastics from disposed of electronics goods, processing the plastics for reuse in some new products. It is also designing products that are easier to disassemble, to increase recyclability. Furthermore, Samsung Electronics changes parts, reinstalls software, or changes labels for returned products and sells them as refurbished phones for reduced prices. This service is provided in the U.S. and U.K., and improves resource efficiency by facilitating the reuse of goods.

Another example is in recycling packing materials. In Korea, packing materials for items like refrigerators used to be thrown away after being used just one time. But then Samsung changed the material it uses for packing, switching to more durable materials, so now packing materials can be reused. Recycled paper is also being used for the boxes that cellphones and PCs come in. In 2015 in Korea alone, Samsung Electronics recycled 79,950 tons of products, including refrigerators, washing machines and displays, as well as 7,040 tons of packaging.

The company is also reducing the resources it uses by minimizing screen thickness, bezel width, and TV screen weight. Products with rapid replacement cycles, like cellphones, can be restored as usable products. In some countries, Samsung collects old cellphones from consumers, then repairs and refurbishes them. Those restored devices can be provided to consumers at an affordable price, once again saving on resources.

Samsung’s efforts to implement a circular economy are not limited to recycling resources. The company is also working to release products with a longer life expectancy, so that consumers can use them for a long time before needing replacements. Software is updated regularly to help extend device lifespans. Furthermore, the company provides a range of customer assistance services, both online and offline, so consumers can resolve issues that may arise with their products and use them longer.

The world is striving to create a more circular economy, and Samsung Electronics is actively trying to make those changes, too. Creating a more sustainable economy will change the world in many ways, and Samsung will continue to do all it can to implement environmental and resource-related solutions while producing the best products.