Google products including the newly launched Pixel 5 smartphones and Nest Audio speakers, now use recyclable material. The company had set a 2022 goal for building more sustainable products but hit the target early. Pixel 5 has a back cover made from 100 percent recycled aluminium lowering its carbon footprint by 35 percent, and the Nest Audio contains 70 percent recycled plastic. Google says that it has set a new target that it will use recycled or renewable material in at least 50 percent of all the plastic used in its hardware products by 2025.
Google provided the details in a blog post about its sustainability efforts published today. It said that using recycled aluminium for Pixel 5 back covers reduced the enclosure’s carbon footprint by 35 percent and also that its latest Nest Thermostat — launched in the US earlier this month — had a trim plate made with 75 percent post-consumer recycled plastic.
Google said that it not only plans to use more sustainable materials across its devices but also find ways to reduce landfill. It has committed to getting a third-party UL 2799 Zero Waste to Landfill certification for all its assembly manufacturing sites by 2022, which means to say that a majority of waste produced at the sites goes into recycling.
The company added that while it continues to maintain the shipping of products directly to consumers 100 percent carbon neutral, it has now committed to having 100 percent plastic-free and recyclable packaging by 2025 for all its products. The company did not detail if packaging will also mean accessories, such as wires and chargers that typically ship along with smartphones and speakers, which Apple decided to stop doing, also for environmental reasons.
Google seems to have met its goal much ahead of its own target declared in August last year. The company had said that all its devices will include recycled plastic by 2022. It had also said that the company’s transport-related carbon emissions per unit had been reduced by 40 percent between 2014 and 2018. Google had also said that it would offset the remaining carbon emissions by purchasing carbon credits.
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