Samsung Targets 100% Recycled Components in Galaxy Devices by 2030

Samsung has announced a new phase of its environmental roadmap for Galaxy devices and has set fresh targets through 2030. The company says it has already completed the sustainability goals it had set for 2025 and is now expanding its focus beyond product materials and packaging.

The next phase is more ambitious and goes deeper into manufacturing and operations.

Samsung now plans to include at least one recycled material in every major module of every Galaxy mobile product by 2030. This covers batteries, displays, cameras, and structural components across smartphones, tablets, PCs, and smartwatches.

This is not just about using recycled plastic on the outer body. It involves integrating recycled metals, rare earth elements, and battery materials directly into core hardware components.

Batteries and displays depend on global supply chains that are already under pressure. Adding recycled lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and other metals at scale will require serious coordination with suppliers and strict quality control.

Currently, Samsung uses 10 types of recycled materials in Galaxy products. These include plastics, glass, aluminum, cobalt, lithium, steel, copper, gold, rare earth elements, and tantalum. The company has also used plastic recovered from discarded fishing nets in some components.

It is also building a circular battery supply chain to recover and reuse materials from used Galaxy device batteries.

If implemented effectively, this could reduce dependence on newly mined materials. But recycled materials must meet the same performance and safety standards as new ones. That will be the real challenge.

Samsung says all 10 of its qualifying global mobile manufacturing plants have achieved Zero Waste to Landfill certification at the highest level under UL Solutions standards. These facilities are located in Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Vietnam.

This means waste generated during manufacturing is diverted away from landfills. However, Zero Waste to Landfill does not mean zero waste. Waste can still be incinerated or processed differently. The actual environmental impact depends on how waste is managed in each region.

The company is also aiming to return 110 percent of the water consumed in its mobile operations by 2030. In simple terms, it plans to replenish more water than it uses.

Water usage in semiconductor and electronics manufacturing is significant. As climate risks grow, water management could become a more critical issue than packaging materials.

Samsung also plans to conserve ecosystems equivalent to the footprint of its global mobile operations. The goal is to restore and protect natural environments around its manufacturing presence.

Samsung has already eliminated single-use plastics from mobile packaging in most markets and shifted to paper-based or recycled alternatives. Some limited plastic use remains due to local conditions.

On the product side, newer 15W, 25W, and 45W Galaxy chargers now consume less than 0.005W in standby mode. While the number appears small, improvements like this can have a measurable impact when scaled across millions of units.

Sustainability announcements are common in the smartphone industry. What makes this roadmap more significant is its focus on core components and factory operations rather than just packaging changes.

If Samsung successfully integrates recycled materials into every major module, it could influence suppliers and push competitors to adopt similar practices. That would create a broader impact across the industry.