IT Business Products : Our Eco-Innovation Story

Once upon a time, it seemed like being eco-friendly and enjoying cutting-edge design were mutually exclusive. That’s no longer true. Samsung is about Eco-innovation and that’s no fairy tale.

Our Products

Take our refrigerators, for instance, which combine ENERGY STAR efficiency with best-in-class features. And, Samsung has more ENERGY-STAR qualified TVs than any other consumer electronics brand.

Every product manufactured by Samsung is considered in relation to the environment. We take sustainability very seriously, and we’re not willing to skimp when it comes to our integrity. Samsung’s designers are always mindful of how our products affect the earth, all the way from the idea phase to the final product and beyond.

Here’s how our process works:

Stage one: The environmental impact of every Samsung product is assessed.

Stage two: Essential steps are taken to ensure eco-friendly practices during manufacturing.

Stage three: Sustainable materials are ordered, and partnerships with similar eco-minded suppliers are established.

Stage four: Manufacturing begins.

No aspect escapes scrutiny. From energy and materials to products and recycling, we make every effort to be as conscientious as possible.

Our facilities use renewable energy through our participation with the EPA’s Green Power Partnership program. And through our partnership with the EPA’s Smart Way Transport program, we use fuel-efficient transportation for delivery.

We’re always trying to reduce or eliminate hazardous materials in our manufacturing, such as using mercury-free and spray-paint free processes. And our innovative packaging includes soy ink and recycled materials. Some products are made from eco-friendly materials, such as corn-based bioplastics.

Best of all, Samsung offers no-hassle, no-fee recycling and product take-back centers around the country, which will gladly accept certain Samsung products at the end of their life cycle so their components can be reused for new products. And unlike some printer manufacturers’ return programs, ours means that when you return printer toner cartridges, they are never incinerated or sent to landfills. For a complete list of drop-off locations, and to learn more about our respected recycling partners and standards, please visit Samsung Recycling Direct.

Are you interested in Samsung’s eco-innovation within the context of specific products?

Samsung’s LED TVs do not use mercury in the production process, or spray paint in the manufacturing process. It also offers a power indicator menu and an optimized energy savings mode. And because these TVs are thinner, less material is required to manufacture them. Smaller packaging allows for more sets to be shipped, and less fuel to be consumed. The Samsung LED TV is an outstanding set with stunning picture quality, but one that consumes less than 60 percent of the energy used by conventional LCD sets. It’s no wonder that the Samsung 6000 Series was honored with an Eco Design Award in the 2009 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards.

The latest Samsung Plasma TVs feature new circuitry and panel techniques that meet the newest ENERGY STAR v3.0 requirements, and are produced entirely with lead-free materials.

The Reclaim Mobile Phone is utterly groundbreaking. Not only does it come with an ENERGY STAR-qualified charger, but 40 percent of the phone’s shell is made from bioplastic material. Eighty percent of the total materials are recyclable. And the packaging is made with 70 percent recycled material, and printed with soy ink.

Samsung’s WF448 front-loading washer line is the world’s first 4.5 cubic foot front-loading washers, and a gentler way to keep clothes clean while reducing environmental impact. (The line earned an Eco Design Award from the 2009 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards.) With such a large capacity, the total number of loads run during the life of the product is potentially reduced for lowered water and power use. This extraordinary line boasts the ENERGY STAR-based CEE Tier 3 ranking (the highest available), and features Samsung’s SilverCare™ cycle option, which saves 92 percent on energy when compared to hot water sanitization.

If, like so many people, you spend much of your time in front of a computer monitor, you might like a sleek, elegant, energy-saving Samsung LED monitor, which is EPEAT gold-rated, TCO 5.0 certified, and ENERGY STAR compliant. Samsung’s eco-innovative model uses up to 40 percent less energy compared with conventional LCD monitors. No mercury is used in the LED production process.

We extend “green” thinking even down to memory chips. Our DDR3 Memory is a server memory chip that’s super fast but uses less energy. Its technology provides twice the bandwidth of DDR2, yet it can attain an astonishing 73 percent power savings at the module level, and 38 percent at the system level when compared with an equivalent system using DDR2 technology.

Those are just a few examples of Samsung’s innovative thinking when it comes to our impact on natural resources. If we sound remotely boastful, that’s because we’re awfully proud of our eco-friendly record. And we’re working hard every day to make it even better.

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