“Good job I guess.” Samsung is using recycled fishing nets for some of it’s plastic in the S22.

[ebprince the computer nerd]

Summary

Samsung will be using recycled fishing nets for some plastic in the Galaxy S22.

 

Quotes

Quote

 The Galaxy S22 has leaked extensively, but there’s only so much you can tell from renders. For example, it turns out that Samsung has created a “new material” to use in the product — one made from the plastic in discarded fishing nets.

 

My thoughts

Interesting idea Samsung. Hey, I think we should start taking care of our planet, but it is a little pointless. Why didn’t they just use more metal and less plastic? I mean, if they can’t hey, good cause!

 

Sources

the verge

[PocketNerd]

Plastic has its uses, I think it would be shortsighted to remove plastic entirely.

 

I for one am glad they're trying to find ways to improve sustainability!

[Helpful Tech Witch]

2 minutes ago, ebprince the computer nerd said:

Interesting idea Samsung. Hey, I think we should start taking care of our planet, but it is a little pointless. Why didn’t they just use more metal and less plastic? I mean, if they can’t hey, good cause!

 

you really cant win.

 You have people criticizing for the unneeded use of metal to save money

you have people saying this

[fUnDaMeNtAl_knobhead]

35 minutes ago, ebprince the computer nerd said:

Why didn’t they just use more metal and less plastic?

Wireless charging

[dizmo]

Yes, let us make fun of the company trying to do a good thing. That'll really make them want to do it again in the future.

[Quackers101]

fishing net? umm, isn't this kind of pointless right now?
also doesnt take away or remove the dangers about them...

 

Know about a channel rescuing animals daily, some due to the use of fishing nets and "illegal" dumping.

but its also graphic content due to the damages to the animals from the nets and various other contents.

[Arika]

4 hours ago, ebprince the computer nerd said:

but it is a little pointless

24 minutes ago, Quackers101 said:

isn't this kind of pointless right now?

 

Care to explain why you think it's pointless?

[ebprince the computer nerd]

54 minutes ago, Arika S said:

 

Care to explain why you think it's pointless?

Phones nowadays don’t use as much plastic, so it is kind of useless to try to “save on plastic.” It’s a better idea to use reusable metal because phones use a lot more of metal than plastic. Yes, they can save this many metric tons on plastic saving, but it’s only THEIR footprint. If the plastic is weaker, it will break more, then more plastic will be wasted because they could’ve used stronger plastic, or even aluminum or stainless steel.

[suicidalfranco]

Would love to see a plastic s22 ultra (if the ultra is the only one coming with the built in spen), would most likely entice me to buy it

[LAwLz]

12 hours ago, ebprince the computer nerd said:

Why didn’t they just use more metal and less plastic?

Because metal is even worse for the environment, it would result in way heavier phones and it would interfere with a lot of functions (such as you know, making calls).

 

8 hours ago, Quackers101 said:

fishing net? umm, isn't this kind of pointless right now?
also doesnt take away or remove the dangers about them...

Why would it be pointless? According to the UN, 640,000 tonnes (metric, not imperial) of fishing nets are discarded in oceans every year. Isn't it better to remove those discarded nets and repurpose them? Simply leaving them in the ocean causes a lot of damage because fish and other marine life gets stuck in it, and as the plastic degrades it gives off microplastics.

 

 

7 hours ago, ebprince the computer nerd said:

Phones nowadays don’t use as much plastic, so it is kind of useless to try to “save on plastic.”

1) The entire chassi of the S22 is, from what I know, plastic. So it does actually use quite a bit of plastic. The same goes for the S21.

 

2) Even if it was only a small amount of plastic in their phones, the sheer scale of Samsung makes it a bit effect. Samsung sold 272 million phones during 2021. Let's say each phone has 20 grams of plastic in it, on average. That would be 5440 tonnes of plastic that was not just removed from from the ocean, but also 5440 tonnes of plastic that wasn't made new. 

 

3) According to Samsung, this is just the start. They will use the same plastic for more products. 

 

 

7 hours ago, ebprince the computer nerd said:

It’s a better idea to use reusable metal because phones use a lot more of metal than plastic.

Samsung is already recycling and reusing metals in their phones, and from what I remember they will expand those efforts even more. We will probably hear more about it tomorrow.

 

Also if you are trying to say that metal is better than plastic for the environment, you are very, very wrong. Metal requires a massive amount of energy (compared to plastic) to melt and mold. If you care about the environment then you should not push for more metal use. We should push for less metal use. For comparison, manufacturing a single metal drinking straw results in as much carbon emissions as manufacturing 150 plastic straws. That should give you an idea of how much more energy is necessary to work with metal compared to plastic. The issue with things like plastic straws is that people use them once and then throw them away, resulting in garbage. But people don't do that with their phones. It's not like someone will go through 20 plastic smartphones in the same timespan as they would 1 metal phone. 

 

 

7 hours ago, ebprince the computer nerd said:

If the plastic is weaker, it will break more, then more plastic will be wasted because they could’ve used stronger plastic, or even aluminum or stainless steel.

Not sure about you, but I have never replaced my phone because the chassi (metal or plastic) broke. I also don't think the durability will be so much weaker that it actually results in more phones breaking. Even IF it results in more phones breaking (very big if), I am fairly sure the positive effect this has will outweigh the negative.

[Doobeedoo]

Cool.

Is Ultra model in it's own category though as far as material use. I don't mind plastic, it's better than freaking glass, even metal is what I'd rather have. I hate back glass.

[Quackers101]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

Why would it be pointless? According to the UN, 640,000 tonnes (metric, not imperial) of fishing nets are discarded in oceans every year. Isn't it better to remove those discarded nets and repurpose them? Simply leaving them in the ocean causes a lot of damage because fish and other marine life gets stuck in it, and as the plastic degrades it gives off microplastics.

Maybe its not as "pointless", so you say that they will actively be removing the fishing net? If not, that doesn't quite save the animals.   Using the net for something is a little positive thing, and what samsung is going to say or do. and will they support recycling centers for plastic? that is more interesting than some net being used.

[IntMD]

49 minutes ago, Quackers101 said:

Maybe its not as "pointless", so you say that they will actively be removing the fishing net? If not, that doesn't quite save the animals.   Using the net for something is a little positive thing, and what samsung is going to say or do. and will they support recycling centers for plastic? that is more interesting than some net being used.

Did a beach clean with a group on the island I live on a couple of years ago. I'd say about 50% of the items we picked up were small sections (like 5cm/couple of inches long) of fishing nets, mainly from parts that had broken or had been cut off and dumped when a net had been repaired. Also picked up part of a broken net that had washed ashore that was probably somewhere in the region of 50-100kgs of net. All in all between about 15 of us, we probably cleared around 300-500kgs of plastic from 1 smallish pebble beach in about 3 hours. That all went to a recycling centre.

[SolarNova]

I wouldn't call it pointless but its certainly more a 'virtue signal' than an effective means at combating 'plastic pollution'.

 

The whole 'every little helps' is a BS motion imo. No it doesnt, not when swaths of plastic (90% ?) literally flow like solid rivers of plastic trash into the sea from, last i heard, 10 main rivers around the world.

Yangtze, Indus, Yellow River, Hai River, Nile, Ganges, Pearl River, Amur River, Niger, Mekong.

 

So is it good Samsung is doing this ? ..yes.

Do they deserve massive praise for it ? No .. This should be standard ffs, and if they really want to do something about the problem .target these damn rivers and the people causing the problem.

 

Im no eco activist ..but i am 'sensitive' to BS .. and when large companies 'virtue signal' like this ..my BS detector goes of

 

[Distinctly Average]

30 minutes ago, SolarNova said:

I wouldn't call it pointless but its certainly more a 'virtue signal' than an effective means at combating 'plastic pollution'.

 

The whole 'every little helps' is a BS motion imo. No it doesnt, not when swaths of plastic (90% ?) literally flow like solid rivers of plastic trash into the sea from, last i heard, 10 main rivers around the world.

Yangtze, Indus, Yellow River, Hai River, Nile, Ganges, Pearl River, Amur River, Niger, Mekong.

 

So is it good Samsung is doing this ? ..yes.

Do they deserve massive praise for it ? No .. This should be standard ffs, and if they really want to do something about the problem .target these damn rivers and the people causing the problem.

 

Im no eco activist ..but i am 'sensitive' to BS .. and when large companies 'virtue signal' like this ..my BS detector goes of

 

I totally agree. Every major company needs to do more. They need to recycle more than they produce, by law. That may sound harsh, but there is no other way to make amends for the years of damage already done. If companies are unwilling to do it properly of their own volition, then governments need to step in and tax the crap out of them until they comply. 
 

Some car companies are now doing a little, such as making seats out of recycled PET, dashboards and door inserts from recycled ABS etc. A good start but still not enough. It need not cost them too much either, they just need to be incentivised to do so, and there are a lot of ways we can achieve that.

[Quackers101]

1 hour ago, Distinctly Average said:

I totally agree. Every major company needs to do more. They need to recycle more than they produce, by law. That may sound harsh, but there is no other way to make amends for the years of damage already done.

recycle more than they produce would be kind of impossible, unless you wanted to print money for it

but would agree that there should be more support to reach ~100% recycling or reuse, when the best ones are likely just 40-60% (maybe some that can reach higher in certain areas) compared to others that move millions or more content that may only deal with 4-20% and still growing with more stuff produced than the year before.

[Distinctly Average]

Just now, Quackers101 said:

recycle more than they produce would be kind of impossible, unless you wanted to print money for it

but would agree that there should be more support to reach ~100% recycling or reuse, when the best ones are likely just 40-60% (maybe some that can reach higher in certain areas) compared to others that move millions or more content that may only deal with 4-20% and still growing with more stuff produced.

It is possible. For instance, big electronics firms could have projects to build their own buildings, infrastructure, furniture etc from recycled materials. If companies making billions in profit spent a few million on such a task, and even recovery of waste plastic such as single use drinks bottles etc, then it would not make a huge dent in their coffers. It needs effort and that is where big companies only make to,en gestures. In some markets, manufacturers are making big investments in recycling. The EV industry for example investing in battery recycling plants which can act turn them a profit. Same goes for using recycling materials in their products, recovering PET bottles and turning them into usable seating materials for example. It can be done.

[Quackers101]

56 minutes ago, Distinctly Average said:

It is possible. For instance, big electronics firms could have projects to build their own buildings, infrastructure, furniture etc from recycled materials.

you do have LG talking about recycling plants and maybe some others too. still off by handling everything produced at a world scale. more so when dealing with certain waste is harder in some regions, either by war, poverty and corruption with the market around any waste can be in the billions?

 

[Distinctly Average]

47 minutes ago, Quackers101 said:

you do have LG talking about recycling plants and maybe some others too. still off by handling everything produced at a world scale. more so when dealing with certain waste is harder in some regions, either by war, poverty and corruption with the market around any waste can be in the billions?

 

It is a good start. Plenty of companies are now beginning to do more, but it does need to accelerate. How much plastic do companies like Coke use each year for instance? Big companies like that have a massive footprint on the world and they need to take responsibility for the waste their products create. While ultimately those costs will be passed on to the consumer, it need to happen. We are seeing a change as I said. Hyundai have massively increased the amount of recycled materials in their cars as well as in their plants. VW have been forced to change a lot after their past embarrassment. Still not enough, so governments should be creating more incentives. Reducing tax and enabling planning for suitable plants, easing trade costs for those that comply etc. For those that do not want to play nicely increase taxes, ban advertising of their wares etc. Lots can be done. Sadly the UK left the EU. The EU seem to be beginning to think along those lines and will hopefully do more to make the recycling of all the crap we consume a lot easier and even profitable.. 

[Quackers101]

1 hour ago, Distinctly Average said:

For those that do not want to play nicely increase taxes, ban advertising of their wares etc. Lots can be done. Sadly the UK left the EU. The EU seem to be beginning to think along those lines and will hopefully do more to make the recycling of all the crap we consume a lot easier and even profitable.. 

this is why I dislike amazon, they want to dominate the market and remove stores that wouldn't push as much **** through the store. As seen with the increase of online purchase and reduce in going into physical stores and getting a somewhat decent product. while on amazon, it can be so much **** to go through and with a lot of fake products that are 100% just waste and holds no real value. Like with the increased value that amazon saw throughout the pandemic.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56937428

[BuckGup]

I'm sure all those savings you get from fishing nets offsets the 2nd toxic waste spill 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/travis-county/samsung-austin-facilitys-january-wastewater-spill-was-second-within-a-year/

 

[Rex Hite]

Instead of less plastic and less metal, how about fewer phones.

Sorted.

[CT854]

Does it seem performative as hell? Yes.

 

Is it an overall good thing? Yeah, it is.

 

A win is a win, even if it doesn't address root concerns. Obviously it's not ideal compared to actually addressing those root concerns, but it's still something. There is such a thing as acknowledging that something is something even if we know and understand more can (and should) be done. If someone with a habitually messy house does cleans all their dishes but leave everything else messy, it's more productive to focus on the victory of them washing their dishes than continuing to admonish them for the fact that the rest of their house is still messy.

[dizmo]

6 hours ago, James Evens said:

You mean like microsoft? Announcing a Ocean plastic mouse while also making Windows 11 artificial incompatible to existing hardware?

Hmmm, it's almost as if one thing has nothing to do with the other

 

Also, that still doesn't negate the fact that they're doing something. 

[LAwLz]

9 hours ago, James Evens said:

artificially limiting where your software can run on to create demand for new devices? business as usual

When did Samsung do that?

 

Even if they did, this is still better than nothing.

 

I am honestly surprised by how much negativity there is in this thread about positive news. It's like people want to be mad. I get that if this was some hand waving like what Microsoft did with their mouse, where it was one product and only 20% of the outer shell was recycled plastics, yet they called it a breakthrough then I get the negativity.

But in this thread there is so little information that any negative criticism is just made in bad faith and on assumptions.

 

I swear, if some company like Apple, Samsung or whoever, came up with a cure for cancer and released it for free tomorrow, people would still find a way to criticise them for it.