Web Desk (National Times) – When Samsung announces its 2022 Galaxy S lineup on February 9th, the phones it reveals will be partly made from a new, more sustainable material. On Sunday, the company said it has started using ocean-bound plastic made from discarded fishing nets in its latest devices. Samsung said it would incorporate the material first into the products it announces next week before it eventually begins utilizing it throughout its entire device lineup.

As Samsung notes, we tend to think of plastic bottles and grocery bags as the main culprit of ocean debris like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but its microplastics and discarded nets that marine biologists are most worried about. Derelict fishing gear leads to ghost fishing, a phenomenon where those tools continue to trap and kill marine life, including endangered species like the Hawaiian monk seal. With more than 640,000 tons worth of fishing nets discarded every year, it’s a problem that’s only getting worse.

Samsung isn’t the first company to incorporate discarded trash into its devices. Last year, Microsoft announced the Ocean Plastic Mouse. It features a shell made from 20 percent recovered plastic. Like Microsoft, Samsung is positioning its use of ocean-bound plastics as part of its larger sustainability push. In 2019, under pressure from consumers and environmentalists, the company said it would begin using more sustainable materials in the packaging of its devices.