Samsung (Seoul / South Korea; www.samsung.com) has announced its plan to reduce and replace plastic packaging with "environmentally sustainable materials." Starting in 2019, the company says packaging used currently for its products – such as mobile phones, tablets and home appliances – will be substituted with materials like recycled plastics, bio-based polymers and paper.

Product packaging will need to be updated for this change, and Samsung will be involved in design, development, purchasing, marketing and quality control of the new packaging. For its mobile products, the South Korean company says it will replace the plastic used for holder trays with pulp moulds, replace bags for accessories with eco-friendly materials as well as alter the design of phone chargers to have a matte finish and thereby eliminate plastic films that give a glossy finish.

In addition, plastic bags used to protect home appliances including TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines and kitchen appliances, will be replaced with bags containing recycled materials and bioplastics. The bioplastics will be derived from plastics waste and non-fossil fuel materials such as starch or sugar cane.

Within its circular economy policy, by 2030, Samsung aims to use 500,000 t of recycled plastics and collect 7.5m t of discarded products (both cumulative from 2009). For paper packaging, it will only use fibre materials certified by global environmental organisations. Gyeong-bin Jeon, head of Samsung’s global customer satisfaction centre, says the company "will adopt more environmentally sustainable materials even if it means an increase in cost."