Samsung Electronics has announced it has won the 2022 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards for transforming discarded fishing nets into high-performance, recycled material for Galaxy devices. Samsung earns the Sustainable Product Award for its efforts towards a sustainable future with repurposed ocean-bound plastic into Samsung Galaxy technology.

In a press release, Samsung explains the awards by saying, every year, judged by a panel of sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) experts, the SEAL Awards recognizes the most impactful sustainability initiatives and top companies that drive environmental progress.

“Samsung is honored to receive the 2022 SEAL Sustainable Product Award for our efforts to advance more circular product designs and by doing more with less when it comes to ocean plastic waste,” said Samsung’s Head of Mobile Division, Mr Charles Kimari. “We continue being committed to continuing our sustainability journey and the spirit of open collaboration to deliver even more tangible climate actions.”

“A staggering 640,000 tons of fishing equipment are abandoned in the ocean each year, trapping and entangling marine life and damaging coral reefs. We applaud Samsung for transforming the Galaxy smartphone series to combat this environmental challenge,” said Matt Harney, Founder of SEAL Awards.

Discarded fishing nets are one of the most widespread and invasive ocean-bound plastics that pose a serious threat to marine life and our planet. Samsung says it first incorporated recycled discarded fishing nets with the Galaxy S22 Series and since then, has used the material in designs throughout the Galaxy ecosystem, including in tablets, laptops and earbuds. By collaborating with like-minded organizations, Samsung says it has created a new material from recycled ocean-bound plastic and upheld its high-quality standards.

The company explains that this innovation is part of their Mobile Xperience’s sustainability vision, Galaxy for the Planet, which outlines the company’s journey to taking tangible climate actions across global business operations and product life cycles. Through Galaxy for the Planet, Samsung says it strives to develop and incorporate recycled materials in all new products, eliminate single-use plastics in mobile packaging, achieve zero standby power consumption for all smartphone chargers, and divert all waste from landfill by 2025.