HUAWEI harnesses technology for environmental sustainability and employs trade-ins in the Philippines to help drive circular economy and sustainable development
Environmental issues stemming from human actions that impacted the planet have continued to plague this generation. In response, companies have stepped up and launched efforts to incorporate necessary steps in their processes to address climate change. One of the largest tech companies in the world, HUAWEI Technologies, has been at the forefront of developing technological innovations to help protect the environment.
Huawei believes that technology is a critical solution for the environmental challenges the world faces today. The company has focused its efforts on carbon emissions reduction, renewable energy, and supporting a circular economy.
In the Philippines, Huawei’s Consumer Business Group implemented trade-ins to support closed-loop management of product life cycles and sustainable production.
Trade-ins and Recycling
Smartphone users often find themselves in a dilemma between keeping a phone that works just fine and buying the latest model in the market. To provide them add-on value to their old units, Huawei has proactively promoted trade-ins for the sale of its new smart devices in the Philippines like the HUAWEI P60 Pro, the HUAWEI Mate X3, Mate 50 Pro or HUAWEI Tablet. Since 2015, this trade-in program allowed nearly 600,000 devices to find new owners.
Back in 2021, Huawei engaged industry-leading recyclers and service providers to perform closed-loop management of second-hand phones that involve recycling, refurbishment, and reselling. This means that second-hand phones have to pass strict quality controls to ensure that all components are from Huawei with the units all powered by HarmonyOS and brand-new Huawei-produced batteries.
These Huawei-certified devices are sold by partners through official channels in the second-hand market and also come with a one-year warranty. What’s more, the company also started distributing cash coupons to consumers who avail of the trade-in program which they can in turn use towards purchasing new Huawei products.
With a plan to extend its second-hand device business from phones to tablets, laptops, and other products, more consumers will have the opportunity to acquire high-quality second-hand Huawei devices. This not just prolongs the products’ life cycles, but it also helps reduce resource consumption.
Huawei also addresses e-waste by handing over unusable used devices to professional environmental protection enterprises to be recycled and disassembled in an effort to cut down environmental pollution. These efforts minimize impact on the environment without compromising product experience for its consumers.
Incorporating green product designs
Huawei managed the use of chemicals in their products and adjusted its processes to implement hazardous substance controls in their phones that are more uncompromising than those required by laws and regulations starting in 2016. Aside from adhering to the China Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), Huawei also complies to the European Union regulation Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). The company also created measures to cut back on chemicals being used throughout the manufacturing process across the entire supply chain.
Premium eco-friendly renewable materials have also made their way to the Huawei process. While going full renewable remains a challenge, Huawei continues to work with partners and suppliers to improve the supply chain by incorporating high-quality renewable materials into product manufacturing.
Plastics in electronic products are one of the hardest materials to reuse hence Huawei chose to widely use bio-based plastics during phone production, substantially mitigating the negative environmental impact associated with the manufacturing of petroleum-based plastics.
Eco-friendly packaging design
To cut down on raw material consumption, Huawei also favors reusable, eco-friendly materials and has since developed small, lightweight packaging without compromising product protection. Well-designed packaging is a move towards sustainable product packaging as it reduces the use of paper which in turn protects our forests.
From January 2021 to August 2022, Huawei reduced the packaging used for its smartphones, wearables, tablets, PCs, monitors, and other products and will implement design optimizations moving forward.
Huawei also committed itself to using non-plastic materials for its packaging whenever possible. With an estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic entering the world’s oceans every year, and plastics making up 60%–90% of the waste, it is imperative for businesses to reduce plastic waste. In a bid to help, Huawei started using a special paper on its Mate 50 series to replace the protective film on the phone’s screen. A high-strength paper was also developed and used to replace plastic sealing labels on its boxes. Innovations like these accumulate to a significant reduction in plastic waste in our oceans.
Carbon emissions reduction
The manufacturing process remains to have the most significant amount of carbon emissions. To address this, Huawei engaged in the adoption of innovative energy-efficient techniques as well as renewable and clean energy in its processes. Suppliers are also required to set carbon emissions reduction targets and implement them accordingly throughout the supply chain. Back in 2021, Huawei suppliers’ carbon emission intensity decreased by 2.0% compared with 2020, a testament to the effectiveness of this decision.
Longer product lifespans
Durability and maintaining high quality in its products is one of Huawei’s most effective ways to protect the environment.
For Huawei smartphones, one of the main strategies for sustainability is for products to last longer. By selecting and developing materials to manufacture safe and reliable hardware during the design phase, Huawei has come up with technological innovations that do not just comply with stringent international standards but can also withstand extreme conditions including drops, impacts, and changes in temperature and moisture in the environment.
Flagship phones like the HUAWEI P60 Pro come equipped with Kunlun glass which received the first-ever five-star glass drop resistance certification from Switzerland’s SGS. The overall drop resistance is boosted 10 times which makes the screen of this phone very durable. This provides consumers with reliability not easily found in other smartphones.
Huawei’s latest foldable, the Mate X3, is also protected by the Kunlun glass on its outer screen and comes with an inner screen made of Non-Newtonian fluid materials that creates an anti-impact surface which helps in protecting the unit from accidents and everyday wear and tear thereby extending the phone’s lifespan even further. Consumers who invest in Huawei smartphones do not just get durable smartphones, they also contribute to reducing waste and supporting sustainability.
Repaying trust with responsibility through technology
Huawei continues to take its role in protecting the environment seriously by continuing to develop technological solutions to help mitigate the effects of climate change. Through its commitment throughout its processes, logistics, and operations, Huawei continues to look for technological solutions and develop innovations that address environmental issues with the help of technology.
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