Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Google to use recycled materials in all Made by Google products by 2022

Christian de Looper
By

Google wants to make sure that its impact on the environment is a little less damaging. The company has announced that all Made by Google products will use recycled materials by 2022. In other words, Pixel phones, Google Home speakers, Nest devices, and more will all be built with recycled materials, according to a new report from Fast Company.

According to the company, it has already begun using recycled plastic in Chromecast devices, as well as in the fabric covering on Google Home devices, which is made from recycled plastic bottles. It’s important to note that while Google will be using recycled materials in 100 percent of its Made by Google products by 2022, it will not be building any entire product out of recycled materials — though, over time, the company will be able to use more and more recycled materials to build its products.

Recommended Videos

The move isn’t totally new in the tech industry. Apple now builds the aluminum cases for its MacBook Air and Mac Mini computers out of 100 percent recycled aluminum, and the company has even built a robot called Daisy that disassembles iPhones and separates recyclable materials for use in future iPhone parts. Samsung has made pledges to be more environmentally conscious too — the company promised to use sustainable materials in its product packaging earlier this year.

Related

Using recyclable materials isn’t the only pledge Google made. The company also said that it would make all of its shipments carbon neutral by 2020. The work on that has already begun — in the Fast Company report, Anna Meegan, Google’s head of sustainability for hardware, said that the team reduced emissions by a hefty 40 percent simply by switching from air shipments to cargo shipments.

Google has a recycling program for customers — so if you have a Google device that you no longer need, the company will send a shipping label for you to send back those products. Currently, the program is only available in the U.S.

Tech companies have a long way to go before they’re truly eco-friendly, but companies like Google, Apple, and Samsung are continuing to make steps toward having less of a negative impact on the planet.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper
Contributor
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
Google just announced 8 big Android updates. Here’s what’s new
A photo of many Android figurines on a white wall.

At Moblie World Congress (MWC ) 2024, Google is bringing a healthy bunch of new features to Android. In line with the AI push all across the industry, some notable AI-driven enhancements are on the table. There are also a handful of core Android features that sound practically amazing.
The first in line is Gemini. The generative AI chatbot recently got a standalone app for Android, and now it’s headed for the Google Messages app. Users can chat with Gemini directly in the messaging app and use its generative capabilities for a host of things, like drafting replies, refining a message, and more.

Another feature that was showcased a while ago is finally ready for prime time. Android Auto is gaining support for message summarization for standalone texts and group chats, and it can also suggest replies. With a single tap, users will also be able to drop a message, start a call, and share an estimated arrival time. The idea is to deploy AI for crucial tasks so that it can minimize distractions while driving.
Lookout, an accessibility-centric feature for users with vision challenges, is also getting meaningful AI love. On Android phones, Lookout will now read AI-generated captions and descriptions for media content. For now, the AI boost to Lookout and Messages is limited to the English language.

Read more
Google just announced Android 15. Here’s everything that’s new
The Android 15 logo on a smartphone.

Android fans, it's time to start your hype engines. Google just released the first developer preview for Android 15 — kicking off the release of the next big Android update.

This is just the first step in a months-long process of Android 15's rollout, which will see numerous developer previews and betas before the final release later this year. So, what's new, when is Android 15 officially releasing, and should you download it? Here's everything you need to know.
What's new in Android 15

Read more
Google is launching a powerful new AI app for your Android phone
Google Gemini app on Android.

Remember Bard, Google’s answer to ChatGPT? Well, it is now officially called Gemini. Also, all those fancy AI features that previously went by the name Duet AI have been folded under the Gemini branding. In case you haven’t been following up all the AI development flood, the name is derived from the multi-modal large language model of the same name.

To go with the renaming efforts, Google has launched a standalone Gemini app on Android. Moreover, the Gemini experience is also being made available to iPhone users within the Google app on iOS. But wait, there’s more.

Read more