Covestro supports circular material solutions for smartphones

Covestro is collaborating with Fairphone, a Dutch social enterprise building a market for ethical smartphones, on the use of circular material solutions.

Fully and partly recycled TPUs are used in the protective case of the Fairphone 3 and 4 ranges. Partly recycled polycarbonates are additionally used in the newer device.

Products from Covestro's post-consumer recycled polycarbonate portfolio are used in the Fairphone 4's rear device cover, middle frame and wireless charger. With a PCR content of 30-50%, this Makrolon portfolio has physical properties comparable to virgin material and offers good impact strength, balanced flow behaviour, and high stiffness and flame retardancy to ensure a long service life.

Covestro has also developed a new range of recycled and partially recycled TPUs of the Desmopan brand, which are now used in the protective cover of the Fairphone 4 and certified according to RCS (Recycled Claim Standard), an international standard for the traceability of recycled raw materials within supply chains.

This includes the product Desmopan 3095AU RC100, which was developed after identifying several streams of post-industrial recycled plastics. The fully recycled material exhibits the typical advantages of TPU, for example, high chemical and abrasion resistance, but easier processability because it melts at lower temperatures and flows better than virgin material. The product has proven itself when used in the protective case of the Fairphone 3 and is now being used in the Fairphone 4.

Covestro also supports a mono-material approach in each case for the use of polycarbonates in the housing and TPU plastics in the protective cover to facilitate recycling of the smartphones at the end of their useful life.

Nan Hu, VP Head of Global Industrial Marketing Electronics and Electrical in the Engineering Plastics business entity at Covestro, said: "With the help of our post-consumer recycling portfolio, we support Fairphone in achieving its sustainability goals. This includes particularly robust material solutions that enable a modular design of Fairphone products and promote their repairability. Such projects and collaborations are in line with our vision to become fully circular."