Electronics
Using Plastic in Electronics: Improving Sustainability
Cell phones. Laptops. TVs. Video games. Car displays.
Electronic gadgets are everywhere. Even spaceships, satellites, lunar surface equipment and the international space station.
These gadgets are amazing but complicated, made of an untold number of materials to deliver info and visuals. Instantaneously.
One of the key materials? Plastic.
It’s versatile, durable, and helps safeguard and insulate sensitive electronics. It’s used to make printed circuit boards. High-tech displays. Protective housings.
It’s pretty much irreplaceable.
More on use of plastic in electronics here
Can We Build on Plastic’s Sustainability?
We know from multiple life cycle studies that using plastic is often more efficient than alternatives and can drive down greenhouse gas emissions and create less waste.
But can we improve on that efficiency in electronics? Can we make and use plastic with an even lighter environmental footprint? And recover it for recycling and reuse at the end of its life?
Multiple companies are working on it.
Using Plastic in Electronics:
Improving Sustainability
Let’s dig in and see a few examples.
NOTE: Featured products were obtained from public announcements and are included for identification and educational purposes. There is no express or implied endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation with America’s Plastic Makers.
Bio-based robots?
Global plastic maker Covestro answered the call when robot vacuum cleaner maker Roborock asked for materials with a lower carbon footprint without compromising on performance. The solution? A combination of bio-mass-balanced plastic and post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic.
Marine litter mouse
Global plastic maker SABIC collaborated with Microsoft to create the Ocean Plastic Mouse. Its exterior shell contains 20% plastic recovered from oceans and waterways. It’s part of Microsoft’s commitment to achieve zero waste by 2030. And part of SABIC’s commitment to minimize plastic waste.
Cell phones: Recycle and reuse
Many companies already design cell phones to be recycled in their take back programs (including the plastic). Today, many mobile phone companies are working to “help extend the longevity of existing mobile devices… by giving them a second life through refurbishment and reuse.”
Recycled plastic in electronics
Multiple major electronics makers, including Apple, Dell, HP, Samsung, Sony and Microsoft, are ramping up use of recycled plastic in their products. Some of the recycled plastic is sourced from “ocean-bound” plastic… one of many ways companies are striving to meet sustainability goals.
Recycling end-of-life plastic e-waste
Houston-based CompuCycle recycles used IT-based assets… and has developed a way to separate used plastic from electronics and process it to be re-sold. The company says it’s creating recycled plastic that can be used to produce new electronics or other products, domestically or abroad.
Picking the right plastic
As senior applications development engineer at Covestro, Mark gets to tinker around with more than kids’ toys these days. He helps household-name companies pick the right material for the right part for the right product. While helping improve the sustainability of their products.
Wanna see electronics recycling in action?
Separating plastic from metals and glass so it can be resold for reuse is a complicated process. Watch how one company uses high-tech and high-touch to create clean plastic for new products.
Coming soon: Podcast on recycling plastic e-waste
EVTERRA Recycling will soon sit down for our “Sustainably Speaking” podcast series to explain how they recycle seemingly obsolete electronics – and recover materials including plastic – at their four facilities across the nation.
BTW: If you want to recycle your used electronics, check out Best Buy’s recycling page here.
Want to learn more about the plastic and other materials used to make electronics? Check out this brief report: Chemistry in Semiconductors and Electronics.
