Who’s on the line? Samsung Galaxy S22 uses plastic from discarded fishing nets

Tech giant Samsung made a splash last week when it announced its new Galaxy S22 series. Attendees to the company’s biannual product launch event, Unpacked, were hooked by a range of new photography and social sharing features.

But for keen followers of plastic sustainability trends like me, those features were just small fry when compared to one particular aspect of the new series’ design: the South Korean company is using plastic derived from ocean-bound fishing nets to build the flagship phones.

According to the BBC, Samsung is using polyamide resin made from recycled nylon fishing nets. The polyamide is used by Samsung to make the brackets which hold the volume and power keys in place.

The BBC says that discarded water bottles and CD cases are also being used to create components for the S22 models, which include the Galaxy S22, S22+ and S22 Ultra.

Samsung says that 640,000 tons of fishing nets that are abandoned and discarded every year, causing harm to marine life. The decision to recover some of these materials for application in its devices forms part of the firm’s ‘Galaxy for the Planet’ initiative, which seeks to position the brand as a sustainable and environmentally responsible consumer option.

One of Samsung’s pledges is to incorporate recycled materials into all of its products by 2025 – although it has not specified a target for the ratio of recycled:virgin materials it intends to use.

Nevertheless, Samsung is now one big fish in the sustainable plastics pond.