All “Made By Google” Products Now Use Recycled Material
Google is now using recycled material in all Made by Google products – hitting a sustainability goal two years early – and will use 50 per cent recycled plastic across every product by 2025.
All new Pixel and Nest products this year incorporate recycled material, including the back housing of the Pixel 5, made from 100 per cent recycled aluminium; the Nest Audio, with 70 per cent recycled plastic across its enclosure parts – including the acoustic fabric – and covered in the same sustainable fabric as last year’s Nest Mini; and the trim plate of the Nest Thermostat, which is made from 75 per cent recycled plastic.
According to David Bourne, Sustainability Systems Architect, this means Google has met the goal originally set for 2022 two years ahead of schedule.
“Google’s focus on incorporating recycled materials in our hardware design not only supports our sustainability commitments, but also enables our supply chain partners to confidently invest in and develop these types of materials so that the wider consumer electronics industry can use them too,” he said.
Google is now aiming for a set of even more ambitious goals by 2025, including using 50 per cent recycled plastic in all products, which Bourne says is well above industry standards.
“We hope this is a milestone on the path to a future where we design out waste and pollution and keep materials in use longer,” he said.
In addition, it will aim to make all its packaging 100 per cent plastic-free and recyclable.
“We’ve already made a reduction in plastic use in our packaging since 2016, but we have a lot of hard work ahead in order to meet this new goal. To get us there, we need to uncover alternative, recyclable materials that will still protect our products.
“It’ll take partnering with our suppliers, tinkering in the lab and sharing learnings across the industry, but we’ll get there,” said Bourne.
The Pixel 5 is Google’s first phone to include recycled aluminium.