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.

Meticulously developing the best technological innovation, choosing high quality materials, and delivering the highest quality and safety standards is what makes Samsung Electronics proud of their products. Without proper attention to this product development stage, the current line-up would not be available on the market.

Growing Awareness

The first electronic products manufactured were large and contained huge amounts of plastics, metals, chemicals and other substances. The world had never seen such a growth in consumer products and electronic waste was (and still is) considered to be one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide.

The long-term properties of many of these materials and substances were often not fully understood, and during the 1990s, researchers began to further investigate how these materials break down at the end of life and their potential hazards in consumer products. They soon realised that some of the materials used, such as lead, mercury, cadmium¹ and brominated flame retardants², needed far greater consideration for their hazards to the environment and possibly human health. Governments and industry had to take action, especially as the consumer goods industry was booming.

Changes to Regulation

Europe took the lead with a massive step forward in chemical and waste legislation in order to better control these impacts. In 2002, the first European WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive was published to ensure adequate recycling of products at end of their shelf life. More importantly, 2006 was a landmark year for two pieces of legislation:

• The Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive came into effect
• The REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restriction of Chemicals) regulation was published

Both pieces of legislation aimed to drive industries to control the use of hazardous substances in their products through improved design and purchasing of materials. Now, over 700 substances are controlled worldwide.

Innovation Opportunities

These changes in regulation seem to have had great benefits to Samsung Electronics, using the  pressures of legislation as a perfect opportunity to go beyond and innovate new technology. This is what the company’s Vision 2020 centers around, creating products and designs that both enrich peoples’ lives and contribute to a socially responsible, sustainable future.

The example of a large CRT TV is often used as a way to describe chemical innovations in electronics. These TVs used to contain up to 2kg of lead added to the glass as both a safety measure and an optical enhancer. As scientists further researched the negative impacts of lead in consumer electronics and the EU began publishing restrictions, Samsung had a perfect innovation opportunity to revolutionise their customers’ viewing experience. The next generation market of LCD and plasma screens was developed, and Samsung became one of the leading manufacturers for display.

In 2009, the company was the first manufacturer to release a commercial line-up of mercury-free LEDs and in 2015, Samsung launched their cadmium-free quantum dot technology. Most manufacturers still have not been able to develop mass-market, commercial quantum dot TVs without cadmium.

Over the years, many hazardous substances have been phased out of products, done as a result of in-house research and a commitment to the environment.  For example, it was only in 2008 when Samsung released cell phones that contained no brominated flame retardants or PVCs³, going above and beyond regulation.  After this achievement, new cell phones not containing phthalates⁴ or beryllium compounds⁵ were released. And it didn’t stop there. Later on, chlorinated flame retardants⁶ and antimony⁷ were removed, showing the fast pace of Samsung’s concern and response to hazardous substances.

These are just a few examples of what Samsung Electronics has been doing over the years to reduce the use of hazardous substances. The image below shows a brief history of the last decade:

The Future

Because of a growing understanding of chemical risks, it is important to continually investigate substances not governed by regulation.

Therefore in 2005, Samsung established the Environmental Analysis Lab for investigating hazardous substances and volatile organic compounds. This lab has acquired both KOLAS(Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme) certification and the official testing lab license of Germany’s BAM Institute(The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing). These achievements have assisted in maintaining the high standard of chemical analysis and in-house monitoring, and allows for enforcing voluntary activity.

It is important to comply with regulations concerning materials, which are ever-changing and becoming more stringent.  It is even more important to have open and creative minds which turn the challenges of substance restrictions into sustainable product innovation opportunities.

If interested in finding out more about Samsung Electronics’ environmental or social activities, read the latest Sustainability Report 2016 or send an email to environment@samsung.com.

¹ a highly toxic chemical element

² chemical compounds that make substances less flammable

³ one of the most commonly used synthetic plastic polymers, and a main contributor to landfills

⁴ chemicals used to make plastics more flexible and longer-lasting

⁵ carcinogenic compounds found in electronic equipment

⁶ substances used in polyurethane foam, rubber and plastics to make them less flammable

⁷ a metallic element with toxic alloys