Plastics in consumer electronic products

 By ZainabMansoor
 With growing carbon footprint and escalating levels of depleting resources, energy, time and natural assets are very precious. All the same, consumer electronic products are an absolute necessity in today's day and age in which oil-based products and plastic components are used in abundance. But with the ecological imbalances in play and high wastage levels, a lot of encouragement is given to the usage of eco-friendly products and parts. A lot of companies have stepped forth with worthwhile initiatives to partly or wholly replace conventional plastic.

Eco-friendly Initiatives
Fujitsu hit the limelight with the world's first, biodegradable, plastic-free computer mouse. The M440 ECO is Fujitsu's latest bid towards a 100 percent recyclable computer mouse, made from plastic substitutes ARBOFORM and BIOGRADE. ARBOFORM? is the ecological substitute to plastic products, offering similar specific processing capability, competitive pricing and high accuracy for products. However, it aims to release its ECO line to key global markets such the US, Japan and India where demand for green and eco-friendly consumer products is growing day by day.
M440 ECO appears a s a high-quality plastic mouse and holds the same functionality, such as a scroll wheel and high accuracy with a 1000dpi optical sensor. The mouse is ergonomically designed, suitable for left and right hand users and the shell is created to hold more elasticity; more comfortable than a traditional plastic mouse.

The M440 ECO joins the league of KBPC PX ECO; the biodegradable keyboard in line with Fujitsu's other eco-friendly accessories. The eco-friendly keyboard, replaces 45 percent of the plastic component parts with renewable materials. Since the release, Fujitsu has successfully saved nearly 60,000 kilograms of plastic annually. Not only are oil-based parts such as plastic and PVC eliminated but the carbon footprint of such products is also considerably reduced. However, the company has been clear to acknowledge that the ECO keyboard contains a considerable proportion of oil-based plastics. The ARBOFORM palm-rest that runs the length of the keyboard, and the bottom part constitutes renewable materials whilst the rest of the keyboard is made from traditional oil-based plastic and other non-renewable materials.
"It's the little things that add up: we're continuing to prove that it's possible to eliminate the use of non-renewable sources from the IT lifecycle. Fujitsu underlines its commitment to innovative green products for the desktop, starting with the new ECO mouse, through to the proGREEN selection. By choosing this mouse, environmentally-conscious businesses can feel good that they are helping reduce CO2 emissions without sacrificing durability or comfort - and without having to pay any extra," said Mr. Chandan Mehta, product manager at Fujitsu Technology Solutions.
Other companies are also on the same "green" path. The Asus EcoBook bamboo laptop, released by AsusTek contains no toxic materials and is easy to recycle. These laptops mark a step towards making technology environmental friendly and is part of the company's strategic effort to deploy renewable materials in its products. The Samsung Reclaim, released by Samsung is partially made of corn, mostly recyclable and the documentation is printed on soya ink whilst the Motorola W233 Renew is 100 percent carbon neutral. Motorola created the world's first mobile phone using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles. It compensates the carbon dioxide required to manufacture, distribute and operate the phone through investments in renewMens Running Shoes