Samsung’s Pursuit Of Finding “Eco” Materials Is Why Your S21 Box Is Small

The perpetual push towards being more friendly to the environment has had a knock on effect in the tech industry. Achieving a certain degree of “greenness” such as being carbon-neutral or only using 100% recycled plastics is considered a badge of honor. Samsung is one such company, which it has made evident through its various packaging.

Through the use of more environmentally friendly material and a lesser reliance on plastics, smartphone makers can do their part in reducing their impact on the environment. It doesn’t matter how impressive a smartphone package is, within a day or two, they are consigned to the trash heap, which eventually finds its way into the city dump.

That is why, since the Galaxy S7, Samsung has been steadily improving the packaging of its flagship devices. Today, the S21 Series uses just 4% of the plastic used in the Galaxy S7 packaging. It also only contains 58% of the paper used in that of the Galaxy S7. Samsung Says that this has helped it save some 44,802 trees a year.

Migration from S7 to S8

This drastic reduction in waste didn’t happen overnight. Instead, the Korean manufacturer has been continually improving the packaging of each new iteration of its Galaxy S smartphones. The move from the S7 to the S8 saw the omission of magnet from inside the packaging along with replacing the plastic in-box case for earphones, and the accessory tray, with paper.

Samsung Galaxy S8 to S9

Then the migration to the S9’s packaging saw the change in device tray material from plastic to a pulp-mold material, integrating upcycled materials into our process. Besides this, little else changed for this particular year. The number of accessories and package content remained the same.

Samsung Galaxy S9 to S10

Samsung’s introduction of the S10 and the S20 a year later, saw the move to eco-conscious packaging. Paper material was used instead of plastic ones to tie together accessories. Package structure changed too, along with the integration of the packing trays into a single pulp-mold one. The plastic protective film that lined the accessories such as the charger and USB connector were removed too.

Samsung Galaxy S10 & S20 to this year’s S21

In 2021, the company’s decision to omit the charging brick and earphones from the S21 Series’ list of accessories make the packaging far smaller and lighter than that of the S10 and S20. Besides taking up less space on a shelf, its box is made with corrugated cardboard, instead of rigid paper, to improve recyclability.

Since last year, all paper material in Samsung’s smartphone packaging is either 100% recycled or ‘sustainably-sourced’. And the company says that it :will continue to search for new and innovative eco-conscious materials for product packaging, to discover new ways to minimize materials used and to optimize product development processes.