Logitech International announced today that it has exceeded its commitment to incorporate post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic into products, reducing its carbon impact and increasing the circularity of consumer product materials and ingredients. Logitech’s Creativity and Productivity portfolio, the company’s largest product portfolio, uses PCR at scale with 65% of all mice and keyboard units now including PCR plastic, surpassing its 50% commitment made in 2020.
Logitech’s use of recycled plastics has grown rapidly in a mere two years’ time, driving the company to establish new capabilities and further innovate on its design, manufacturing, and sourcing processes. 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.
“Now, all consumers have a breadth of choice when it comes to selecting mice and keyboards that are aligned with their sustainable lifestyle preferences,” said Delphine Donne-Crock, general manager of creativity and productivity at Logitech. “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 colors and do not typically perform in the same way as virgin plastic. In order to achieve the same level of quality, Logitech innovated on the material characteristics to give these plastics a second life, avoiding the traditional route to landfills. This innovative approach to utilizing second-life materials delivers on the company’s commitment without compromising on the quality and integrity of the material or jeopardizing design aesthetics.
The percentage of recycled plastic in each product varies depending on the type, color, and material make-up of the product and ranges from 75% PCR content to 20% for technically complex lighter color products. As a result of Logitech’s exploration in partnership with trusted suppliers, there are now 30+ colors in the palette and the design goal is to maximize the percentage of recycled content in each product while ensuring high aesthetic appeal and durability tests are met.
As one of the most used materials in the consumer electronics industry, Logitech is committed to publicly sharing its increasing use of recycled plastic and is taking responsibility for the recovery of e-waste. All of 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 taking significant strides to defy business-as-usual and deliver breakthrough solutions in materials, packaging advancements, and circularity to lower the company’s carbon impact,” said Prakash Arunkundrum, head of global operations and sustainability at Logitech. “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.”
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 labeling on product packaging across the entire portfolio. Learn more about all of Logitech’s sustainability initiatives in the 2021 Sustainability report or on the website.
