The EPA’s SMM Electronics Challenge program honors brands that have employed innovative strategies to use materials in a more environmentally responsible way throughout their lifecycle. Samsung’s eco-innovation in materials and responsible recycling program have been recognized each year by the EPA and our consumer recycling programs have received the highest SMM award level since the SMM Program’s inception in 2014. The 2021 SMM Electronics Challenge Award winners were recognized at a virtual award ceremony held today.

“At Samsung, we’re making sustainability the driving force of our bold innovations and we’re deeply honored by the EPA’s recognition of those efforts,” said Mark Newton, Head of Corporate Sustainability for Samsung Electronics America. “Our engineers and designers are continuously finding meaningful ways to reduce waste and minimize our environmental impact as part of our journey toward a more circular economy. When consumers buy a Samsung product, we want them to feel confident that they’re not only experiencing our cutting-edge technology and eco-innovation advances, but we’re also making it easy for them to repair, refurbish and recycle their products as well.”

“It’s going to take all of us working together to build a sustainable future, and I applaud the organizations recognized today for their leadership in essential electronic recycling efforts,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Electronics are a global economic driver with supply chains that reach around the world and products that play a big role in our daily lives. Because of these organizations’ efforts, we’re able to recover and recycle valuable resources like precious metals, critical minerals, plastics and glass.”

The EPA SMM Gold Tier Award, which Samsung has won for the eighth consecutive year, acknowledges our excellence in e-waste collection throughout the United States. We collect and recycle an average of 100 million pounds of e-waste per year in the United States, the greenhouse gas (GHG) equivalent of over two million trees sequestering carbon for ten years. Since 2008, we’ve responsibly recycled more than a billion pounds of electronics, diverting them from U.S. landfills and recovering reusable materials. And Samsung has an aggressive goal to incorporate 500,000 tons of recycled plastics into our products globally by 2030.

In addition to our legacy of SMM innovations over the years, the EPA Sustained Excellence Award recognizes Samsung’s SolarCell Remote, which was introduced in early 2021 and developed to reduce battery waste and to help close the loop on plastic waste. This innovation — which is currently available with Samsung 4K and 8K QLED (Neo, Q80A, Q70A, Q60A) and MicroLED televisions — is projected to eliminate the disposal of 99 million AA batteries and avoid 5,840 tons of GHG over the course of seven years of usage.* Beyond reducing battery waste, Samsung is cutting down on plastic waste as the remote contains 24% upcycled Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and Polycarbonate (PC).

What’s more is that, in January 2022, Samsung unveiled advancements on the second generation of its SolarCell Remote, which can now draw electricity from radio frequencies in devices like Wi-Fi routers. The remote has also been included in more Samsung products, such as new Samsung TVs and home appliances – all with the aim of eliminating the disposal of more than 200 million AA batteries from landfills.

To explore more about Samsung’s responsible recycling programs and innovative sustainability efforts, please visit https://www.samsung.com/us/explore/sustainability/. And to learn more about the EPA Sustainable Materials Management programs, head to https://www.epa.gov/smm.

* Seven years is the average lifecycle of TV products.

At the 2019 Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge awards ceremony, hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Samsung received the Champion and Tier Awards, and at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation Awards, Samsung was recognized as this year’s winner for promoting efficient resource use.

Samsung Electronics wins the EPA’s annual SMM Award. Jenni Chun (center-left), Head of Regulatory & Environmental Affairs, Samsung Electronics America, receives the Gold Tier Award. Kyungmo Yang (center-right), Manager of Galaxy Upcycling Program, Samsung Electronics, receives the Cutting Edge Champion Award.

A Winning Commitment to a Circular Economy

The SMM Electronics Challenge, hosted since 2014, is the EPA’s annual awards ceremony recognizing participants for their commitment to sustainable materials management and the responsible recycling, honoring those companies who, in the US, voluntarily engage in recycling programs. Honors are awarded in two categories, the Champion Award for products, non-products and new technologies that are harnessed in environmentally conscious ways, and the Tier Award for recycling activities. This year, Samsung won awards in both categories, and on January 8, several leading Samsung figures attended the SMM Electronics Challenge awards ceremony in Las Vegas.

In the Champion Award category, Samsung received its third Cutting-Edge Award since the award’s creation in 2016, which recognizes participants for pioneering ideas in electronics sustainability. The company was recognized for the Galaxy Upcycling project, a project dedicated to reusing end-of-life mobile phones for both environmental protection and societal gain.

The award-winning Galaxy Upcycling project transforms obsolete mobile phones no longer in use into internet-of-things (IoT) devices with the power to benefit underserved communities; since 2017, the project has, in partnership with Korean medical researchers, harnessed recycled smartphone devices for the development of portable eye examination equipment. In 2017, the project won the SMM Cutting-Edge Award for the first time, and last year supplied 90 portable ophthalmoscopes for use in Vietnam, benefitting the lives and vision of around 14,000 residents.

In the Tier Award category, Samsung has, for the sixth year in a row, been awarded Gold, an honor bestowed upon only those companies that send at least 96% of all used electronics to certified third-party recyclers. Samsung was recognized for collecting and recycling 60,000 tons of waste electronics in 2018, along with once again only making contracts with only those vendors certified by e-Stewards, a third-party certification management program for electronics recyclers. Furthermore, the company actively participates in eCycling, a voluntary e-waste collection program for companies organized by the CTA (Consumer Technology Association).

Innovating Sustainability

At this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, Samsung received a wide range of honors at the CES Innovation Awards, with products and services from display technologies to mobile devices awarded for standing out in the industry as leading, innovative solutions. Among these, Samsung’s The Serif Eco-Packaging design has been recognized for promoting the efficient use of resources.

The Eco-Packaging design allows consumers to upcycle the packaging of a product into small, versatile pieces of furniture. Once they have assembled their devices, consumers can repurpose the thick corrugated cardboard packaging into small tables or shelves, guided by manuals available by scanning a QR code on the box. This packaging is to be rolled out with Samsung’s TV line The Serif within the first half of 2020.

Also, ahead of this year’s CES, Samsung on January 4 hosted an e-waste collection event where attendees could dispose of their obsolete electronics, free of charge. Samsung has been hosting this e-waste recycling event annually since 2017.