Peripheral equipment supplier increases use of recycled electroplastics

Logitech said it used 30,800 tons of recycled plastic in 2023. | Hernan E. Schmidt/Shutterstock

According to its recently released impact report, Logitech has increased its use of recycled plastics over the past year, including e-plastics derived from end-of-life electronics.

The company also announced this week the winners of a technology competition aimed at recovering and using more recycled materials.

In his Impact report For the period April 2023 to March 2024, Logitech reported the use of 95,100 tons of materials for all products and packaging, including 30,800 tons of recycled plastic. The company only tracks the use of recycled plastic, so the total company-wide recycling rate for the year was 32%.

The latest figure for recycled resin represents a 42% increase from the same period last year, when the company used 21,800 tonnes of recycled resin. Now, 73% of the company’s products use some amount of recycled plastic, whereas just four years earlier, in fiscal 2020, recycled plastic was included in just 2% of the company’s products.

“Our capabilities have grown rapidly through partnerships with resin suppliers and molders to research and develop new, stronger resins in a range of colors and grades,” the company wrote. “As a result, we have expanded our supply chain and refined molding processes. Recycled plastic is now used at scale at Logitech and contributes significantly to our carbon reduction efforts.”

Logitech said the recycled plastic used in its products “typically comes from end-of-life consumer electronics products that would otherwise have ended up in landfill.”

Overall, plastic parts and packaging accounted for 42% of the weight of materials used by the company during the year, up from 39% in the previous year. This is partly due to a larger share of plastic parts and a significant decline in metal parts: last fiscal year, metal parts accounted for 5% of the weight of materials, compared to 13% in the previous fiscal year.

Independently of the August 26 Impact Report, Logitech reported announced a handful of companies it is recognizing as part of its Future Positive technology competition. The competition highlights companies that are innovating in various areas of electronics, including printed circuit boards, batteries, integrated circuits, general materials use, packaging and supply chain redesign.

Recent winners include Achelous Pure Metal, a Hong Kong-based recycling company “that recovers lithium-ion batteries and other valuable metals from waste,” and TPIPLASTIC, a research and development company based in Dongguan, China, “focused on developing high-quality recycled and marine-derived plastic materials for computer products.”

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