Ocean plastic used for power dock
Microsoft has used plastics recovered from ocean for a power supply and dock for its Surface laptop.
The Surface Thunderbolt4 Dock is the first Surface dock & power supply in the consumer electronics market with enclosures (not including AC cable) using polycarbonate derived from advanced recycled ocean bound plastic (OBP).
This is plastic waste defined as “at risk of ending up in the ocean”. OBP is estimated to generate 80% of plastic marine litter. It includes a small fraction of commercially recyclable plastic waste and a lot of non-commercially recyclable plastic waste.
This “Abandoned Plastic Waste” (microplastics, mezzo-plastics and macro-plastics), are located within 50km from shores where waste management is inexistent or inefficient. When already located in a landfill or managed dump site, the plastic waste is not considered as OBP. However, when abandoned in an uncontrolled or informal dump site, this waste is considered as OBP.
Microsoft and its recycled plastic mouse
The USB4/Thunderbolt 4 dock provides high speed data transfer and connects and charges the most important peripherals. The dock and power supply unit required a housing material that offered equivalent performance to that of virgin plastic in terms of safety and reliability.
SABIC its LEXAN flame retardant (FR) resin with 20% ocean bound plastic that increases the recycled content use for plastics. The material has UL94 V0 flammability resistance and achieves EPEAT eco-labelling goals and is certified circular by ISCC PLUS.
The application demonstrates the feasibility of converting OBP into high-performance material used in consumer electronics.
Microsoft has previously used recycled for a mouse and SABIC is supplying recycled plastics for the casings for electric chargers for the first time.
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