To help reduce society’s impact on the planet, we aim to minimize resource use, maximize the service life of our products, and promote recycling
We promote the circular economy by minimizing the resources and raw materials we use throughout the product lifecycle. We aim to use green materials, increase product durability and ease of disassembly, and optimize our product recycling system.
Simpler & Lighter
Our customers want things to be simple and that’s what we aim to deliver. We use lightweight materials that are simple and user friendly, so our customers can also contribute to the circular economy.
Product durability and extending service life is crucial to conserving resources. That’s why we conduct strict reliability tests on our devices, design the software and hardware of our phones to be problem-free, and operate an efficient global repairs system.
Huawei has implemented the green packaging strategy "6R1D": Right Packaging (the core), Reduce, Returnable, Reuse, Recycle, Recovery, and Degradable. Our lightweight and compact packaging design reduces packaging materials as well as warehousing and transportation costs. We use eco-friendly and renewable packaging materials so they can be recycled and reused as much as possible, saving both materials and energy. We have also established an effective recycling system to facilitate this practice and extend the lifespans of packaging materials.
Huawei's green packaging strategy "6R1D"
Since 2008, Huawei has continuously optimized its packaging design and processes. More Huawei products use greener packaging designs, saving a considerable amount of packaging materials. In 2019, Huawei shipped more than 400,000 pieces of green packaging, saving more than 90,000 m3 of wood.
Over the years, Huawei has worked to apply green packaging to the products it ships around the world. We have developed many innovative materials and processing techniques, including high-strength corrugated carton boxes, multi-density integrated expanded polypropylene (EPP), plastic-steel lightweight pallets, and thin paper honeycomb panels.
Replacing Plywood Pallets with Lightweight Plastic-Steel Pallets
Plywood pallets are usually used for product shipment and transportation. However, plywood pallets are not ideal for long-term use in many complex logistics environments and they require a considerable amount of wood.
In 2019, Huawei developed lightweight plastic-steel pallets for packaging 5G base station equipment and other products, and promoted the reuse of these pallets. Compared with traditional pallets, plastic-steel pallets can reduce the total weight by 1,367 tons per year, saving about 11,000 m3 of wood and reducing CO2 emissions by 6,890 tons. In the future, we plan to gradually apply the plastic-steel pallets to packaging servers and devices to further reduce wood consumption.
Disposable plywood pallets
Lightweight plastic-steel pallets
Multi-density Cushioning Process for Lightweight Packaging
In 2019, Huawei invented an integrated molding process for cushioning materials of different densities. This process enables the seamless integration and integrated molding of materials with different densities in the same mold, and has been applied to protect wireless base station equipment and servers. The new process provides the same level of protection as traditional single-density foam, but it reduces the packaging volume by 30% on average and weight by 20%. For example, packaging for 5G MIMO in 2019 used the multi-density cushioning process, which shrunk the packaging volume by 38% and reduced the combined weight by 291 tons, which is the equivalent of reducing CO2 emissions by 463 tons.
Green Action: Recycling, Reusing, and Upgrading
Recycling is a vital part of the circular economy. To fulfill our extended producer responsibility, Huawei has built a global recycling system that allows consumers to recycle their used electronics and reduce their environmental impact. Huawei wants to give consumers a better understanding of the recycling channels available to them, and involve them more deeply in our recycling process, contributing to the circular economy. By the end of 2019, Huawei was running nearly 1,300 recycling stations in 48 countries and regions around the world. Through a paid recycling program, Huawei's service centers took back more than 300,000 used spare parts (totaling 60 tons) every month in 2019.
Huawei has further scaled up its product trade-in program where we give consumers a discount on new Huawei products and thus increase the reuse rate of used products. In China, we also introduced a new online credit-based recycling program where we give consumers coupons in return for recycling. Outside China, our trade-in program was available in nine countries, including Russia, Italy, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates.
Giving New Life to Waste
In 2019, we disposed of 12,756 tons of waste, 1.24% of which was landfilled. In close collaboration with leading recycling companies, Huawei aims to minimize the environmental impact of waste through category-based waste collection and disposal, exploring ways to reusing as much waste as possible, and reducing landfill.
Resin powder accounts for a large percentage of e-waste in landfills and is difficult for companies to deal with. Huawei worked with suppliers to analyze its waste landfill data and worked out a solution for reusing resin powder in partnership with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences. Together we turn resin powder into new products (through procedures such as modification and prilling), forming a virtuous cycle of waste reuse. In 2019, we made huge headway and trial-produced many new products from resin powder, including trash cans and baskets.
Trash cans and baskets made of used boards
Making Every Drop of Water Count
In 2019, we used 12.94 million m3 of water, up 28% year-on-year. This increase was largely attributable to business growth, larger construction sites, and bigger landscaping areas. We found that most of the water we consumed in our operations was used for landscaping, canteens, and air-conditioning.
To reduce water usage, we have rolled out clean production technologies and adopted a variety of measures such as collecting rainwater, recycling cooling water, recycling condensate, and buying reclaimed water for cleaning and landscaping on campuses.
Our Shanghai Research Center uses a water purification system that pre-treats tap water and uses reverse osmosis (RO) to purify the water. Both drinking water and concentrated water are produced during this process. Normally, when the inlet water temperature is 10°C, the water yield is 60% of the rated yield, and the water yield increases 3% for every one-degree increase in temperature. The RO membrane yields the most water when the inlet water temperature is 25℃.
In the winter, our Shanghai Research Center uses the municipal steam heat exchange system. When steam is converted into heat energy through the heat exchanger, a large amount of warm condensate is created. We use this extra heat to heat tap water and keep the inlet water temperature at 25°C, so that our water purifier is much more productive. We save 1,200 m3 of water each year, with the yield of drinking water up 40% and the water production rate up 10%.
Working with Suppliers to Recycle and Reuse e-Waste
Resin powder accounts for a large percentage of e-waste in landfills and is difficult for companies to deal with. Huawei worked with suppliers to analyze its waste landfill data and worked out a solution for reusing resin powder in partnership with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences. Together we turn resin powder into new products (through procedures such as modification and prilling), forming a virtuous cycle of waste reuse. In 2019, we made huge headway and trial-produced many new products from resin powder, including trash cans and baskets.
Trash cans and baskets made of used boards
Mate 40 Pro – Huawei Western Europe’s Greenest Smartphone Yet
We recognise that it takes many small steps to make a big difference, which is why we are working towards a more sustainable future with a series of initiatives, starting with the launch of the HUAWEI Mate40 Pro.
The HUAWEI Mate40 Pro is our greenest smartphone yet; with a 28% reduction in plastic packaging, a 90% reduction in paper documentation, the introduction of an industry-leading paperless warranty and the use of 100% decomposable soy-bean ink. Plastic packaging now represents less than 3.8% of the total packaging.
Not only is the HUAWEI Mate40 Pro a leap ahead in innovation, it’s a testament to our commitment to a brighter tomorrow and another step in our mission to remove all plastics from our packaging.
We know there is a long way to go, and that we all need to come together to succeed, and we are committed to playing our part in creating positive change for our customers, and for our planet.
Let us work together to create change. Because many small steps make a big difference.
