Logitech International has exceeded its commitment to incorporate post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic into products, reducing its carbon impact and increasing the circularity of product materials and ingredients.
The company's use of recycled plastics has increased dramatically in two years, driving it to establish new capabilities and further innovate its design, manufacturing, and sourcing processes. It says an estimated 8,000 tons of virgin plastic was eliminated in Logitech products in 2021, reducing the overall demand for plastic derived from petrochemicals and transforming e-waste into a valuable resource. This equates to an estimated 19,000 tons of CO2 saved across the products' lifecycle, or the equivalent of an average passenger vehicle driving 1,740 times around the Earth.
Logitech's Creativity and Productivity portfolio, its most extensive product portfolio, uses PCR at scale with 65% of all mice and keyboard units, including PCR plastic, surpassing its 50% commitment made in 2020.
"Now, all consumers have a breadth of choice when it comes to selecting mice and keyboards that are aligned with their sustainable lifestyle preferences," says Logitech general manager of creativity and productivity, Delphine Donne-Crock.
"By using post-consumer recycled plastic as our preferred material at scale, we have been able to take meaningful action to make sustainable living easy for consumers, as well as make a substantial impact towards decreasing our carbon footprint."
Logitech has increasingly used PCR plastic across its product lines as part of its Design for Sustainability approach. Many post-consumer recycled plastic resins have traditionally been limited to black or grey colours and do not typically perform in the same way as virgin plastic.
To achieve the same level of quality, the company says it innovated on the material characteristics to give these plastics a second life.
The percentage of recycled plastic in each product varies depending on the type, colour, and material make-up of the product. It ranges from 75% PCR content to 20% for technically complex, lighter colour products. As a result of Logitech's exploration in partnership with suppliers, there are now 30+ colours in the palette. The design goal is to maximise the percentage of recycled content in each product while ensuring high aesthetic appeal and durability tests are met.
All the PCR plastic used in Logitech products comes from end-of-life consumer electronics, which could have otherwise ended up in landfills, and the products are third-party certified through SCS Global Services.
"We're making significant strides to defy business-as-usual and deliver breakthrough solutions in materials, packaging advancements, and circularity to lower the company's carbon impact," says Logitech head of global operations and sustainability, Prakash Arunkundrum.
"Our ultimate ambition is to have a positive impact on the environment and society and drive our whole sector forward by sharing our approach and collaborating."
He says Logitech recently accelerated its climate action strategy and has set itself on a direct path to be climate positive beyond 2030 by capturing more carbon than it creates. "Logitech is a proud signatory to The Climate Pledge and is also the first consumer electronics company to commit to providing detailed carbon impact labelling on product packaging across the entire portfolio."