Samsung unleashes even greener mobiles

It's green...well, actually it's silver
It's green...well, actually it's silver

Samsung has become the latest mobile phone manufacturer to unveil an eco-friendly mobile…in fact it’s released two.

The w510 is made from bio-plastic, using materials from natural corn, which is obviously much nicer than dirty petrol-based plastics.

In making the model, the environment was heavily considered, so no lead, mercury or cadmium was used. The phone has also had a water-soluble coating applied, so we assume it’s not a device for the shower.

Charge alarm

The other phone on display, the f268, focused more on green use rather than eco-friendly construction.

The model does not contain brominated flame retardants, which can allegedly contaminate the environment on disposal. Nor does it use PVC.

The s268 also has an alarm to alert the user when the device has reached full charge, a feature that would surely be annoying when your phone is put on charge while you sleep. (Everyone does that…come on, admit it.)

“Samsung is striving to continue to be a strong corporate citizen that contributes to environmental sustainability," said Geesung Choi, President of Samsung’s Telecommunication Business.

“Now, we are trying not only to launch more environmentally-conscious products with more renewable material and less energy consuming, but also to expand proactively, setting up a phone recycling system."

However, the w510 will be launched in Korea and the f268 in China later this month. Still, good to see some companies are trying.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.