While Logitech uses a large amount of post-consumer recycled plastic in its products – dubbed Next Life Plastics – it’s looking for alternative materials that will help to reduce its overall environmental impact. Natural cork offers huge potential here: alongside being lightweight, durable, heat- and water-resistant, it’s also renewable and boasts a lower carbon impact per gram compared with other materials used in electronic devices, including plastic and rubber.
The team has devised prototypes for a headset, mouse, tablet case and stylus using two cork-based options – compressed cork and a cork composite – in part because the raw material cannot be manufactured using typical injection moulding: compressed cork can be pressed into larger elements, while the composite can be injection-moulded.
Initial findings from the project place confidence in the use of compressed cork – it’s used in the headset, for example, in place of plastic and foam. However, cork composites (developed with recycled plastic binders) pose challenges for recycling. An in-house closed-loop recycling system would need to be established to ensure the material is disposed of or reused in line with the company’s sustainability trajectory.
Logitech’s progressive way of thinking aligns with our Spring/Summer 2024 Colour & Material Direction Clean Reset and Look Ahead: 2024 and highlights the burgeoning focus on reductive design and regenerative materials – see our Material Evolution for S/S 2024 and S/S 2025 for more inspiration.
Alongside its sustainability advantages, cork also offers an exciting direction for aesthetics by bringing natural warmth and tactility to consumer electronics. For more naturals in tech, see CMF Industry View: Consumer Electronics, 24/25.
