Samsung releases 'green' handsets

Samsung Electronics Thursday released three environmentally friendly handsets, using "green" materials for their exteriors and recycled ones inside.

The plastic outer shell of the models -- the F268, released in China; the W510, for Korea; and the E200 Eco, for Europe -- is constructed of "bio-plastic" made from corn. Forty to 50 percent of all the plastic in the phone is bio-plastic, with the rest of the plastic required from traditional materials for rigidity, a Samsung spokesperson said Friday at the company's venue on the Olympic Green in Beijing. The phones' circuit boards lack brominated flame retardants and polyvinyl chlorides, both toxic plastic materials. The F268 has a suggested retail price of 1,800 yuan ($261.97). All three will reach their intended markets next month.

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The company is also developing micro fuel cells that would power handsets with hydrogen, and operates handset recycling programs for phones of all brands in Korea, China, the United States, and Canada. Materials from these phones are recycled as much as possible and reused in the manufacture of new phones, Samsung said.

"Green Olympics" and "High-tech Olympics" are themes for the 2008 Beijing games.