Samsung set on moving sustainability initiatives forward, CEO says

Consumers are quickly becoming more and more eco-conscious in their buying habits, and the world’s biggest brands are taking notice.

Look no further than the Tuesday night pre-show keynote address during which Samsung CEO Jong-Hee (JH) Han focused heavily on company initiatives that he said will help drive sustainability innovation. CES opens Wednesday morning at the Las Vegas Convention Center and several other Las Vegas venues.

On Tuesday, Han highlighted some of the newest Samsung products announced at CES this week, including a TV remote that draws power from both the sun and from the power of radio waves emitted from things like a home’s Wi-Fi router.

Han also noted the company’s efforts at reducing waste along the production cycle for many of its electronics. Specifically, Han said that the Samsung’s Carbon trust-certified memory chips reduced the company’s carbon emissions by nearly 700,000 tons last year.

In 2021, all of Samsung’s TV boxes included recycled materials, and Han said that this will be expanded to the interior packaging of the TV boxes as well starting this year, including the Styrofoam and plastic bags.

And Samsung is looking to collaborate with other companies to address some of these issues.

Samsung is setting its sights on addressing one of the biggest environmental problems that comes in a very small package: microplastics. To do that, it announced a new collaboration with outdoor brand Patagonia to develop a new washing machine that will filter microplastics in hopes of keeping them out of the world’s water systems.

Han also noted that Samsung’s eco-friendly innovations, including the Eco Remote, will be made open source and accessible to other brands to further address the environmental challenges.

“These are important steps. But we cannot achieve our goals alone. We believe open innovation and collaboration are keys to fighting climate change and protecting our environment.”

A study from PwC released in June 2021 showed that more than half of the global pool of consumers polled said they intentionally buy items with eco-friendly packaging, that have traceable and transparent origins, and from companies that are supportive of protecting the environment.

“We know you are passionate about sustainability,” Han said.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Colton Lochhead on Twitter.