Greenwash Watch: Nokia's Remade Phone
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 02.13.08
The Wall Street Journal tells us that "Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile-phone maker by sales, unveiled a new handset made of no new parts. Called "Remade," the handset uses 100% recycled pieces, the latest in the company's push to go green, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, chief executive of Nokia, said yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona."
That would be nice, but from what we can tell, they really released a non-functioning model and a video "showing a new concept from our design team exploring how recycled materials could be used to make mobiles in the future." In other words, vaporware.
Nokia says "The idea behind the “remade” concept was to see if it was possible to create a device made from nothing new. It has been designed using recycled materials that avoid the need for natural resources, reduce landfill, and allow for more energy efficient production.
It is made out of metals from upcycled aluminum cans, plastics from drink bottles form the chassis, and its rubber key mats are provided by old car tyres. Inside the phone are new more environmentally friendly technologies such as printed electronics, and the graphics used on the display save energy without compromising on style.
Remade is a concept that explores potential new ideas for the future, and is part of Nokia’s ongoing work looking at how it can help people make more sustainable choices. It is designed to help inspire and stimulate discussion on how mobile devices might be made in the future." ::Nokia
Even Gizmodo goes gaga and says "Although it's a very appealing design, the Remade is just a non-functioning concept. There is, however, nothing to stop its ideas being used by the world's handset manufacturers."
Nokia has been doing some great things in energy efficiency, materials used in products, take back, recycling, and packaging. But talking about using recycled aluminum and and pop bottles is so three years ago, and not particularly hard to implement. Companies are selling working stuff with that now.
I think I will carve an iPhone out of a bar of Lush soap and call a press conference.
you obviously have no idea how products are developed. This is a first step. You guys knocked the Mac Air book for not using recycled materials, but make fun of Nokia for putting efforts towards making more responsible electronics.
you need to encourage these activities, not mock them.
Hey now, no need to piss all over what sounds like a very innovative possibility, just because it isn't working yet. Nokia is one of the world's top manufacturers, and if they manage to get a working version of such a thing, that could stand to make quite an impact, and influence others to look into the same, should it be successful.
i agree with above comments. shame on you, treehugger!
Yep if Nokia got into this on a big scale the results could be good.
But it's basically a block model, using non-virgin materials. I don't know what 'upcycled aluminium cans' means? Are those ribs from the original can?
Remanufacturing their old phones could probably have a lower impact over all. Because all the bits are already phone shaped! I'd love to send my 5500 back for an upgrade, get some of that stereo bluetooth business. I bought this phone because it is water resistant and robust, but unfortunately the innards will be superceded much quicker than the housing.
the term 'down-cycling' is used as a way to refer to the majority of secondary material usage is for a 'lower' product/function. Think PET bottle in a recycled bench.
In this case, going from a low tech soda can to a high tech piece of electronics is a rarity in the recycling world.
read 'cradle to cradle' for more insight.
I've read cradle to cradle - downcycling actually means the material's properties are inferior to the virgin prouct, not the function of the end product. Recycled PET is not as good as virgin PET, so it can't make the same bottles again (recycling) - it is only useful in something like a bench which doesn't require as high a performance plastic as a bottle (downcycling)
So to me those aluminium cans have been recycled. If they incorporated some of the original properties of the can put in when that was manufactured (like maybe the ribs?) then perhaps it could be called upcycled.
Your right MY, it is more about the quality of the resulting material. I don't think that you neec. need to use the actual structure as any material like aluminum is going to be melted down, but if they can use that resulting material for the case, I would consider that upcycling, or at least not downcycling.