OPPO Uses Technology to Add a Touch of Green to the World This Earth Day

April 22 2022, Singapore – Every year on 22 April, people around the world mark Earth Day by raising awareness of the need to protect our planet. OPPO also prioritises its responsibility as a global corporate citizen, and adopts a long-term commitment to sustainability by using its technology and brand power to promote a greener future for the planet.

Reducing plastic waste and developing greener products
According to data from the United Nations Environment Programme, about 11 million tons of plastic waste is dropped into our oceans every year¹. Plastic waste that hasn’t been correctly disposed of can end up polluting soil and water, eventually finding its way into the human body through the food we eat. These microplastics represent a hidden danger to our health that we currently know very little about.

To reduce the amount of plastic used in its packaging, OPPO has adopted “3R+1D”, the internationally recognised green packaging principles, focusing on reduction, recyclability, reusability and degradability. Through this approach, OPPO has successfully reduced the amount of plastic used in its packaging in Europe by 95% since 2019, while also making use of materials with biodegradable polylactic acid material to replace the use of traditional plastics.

Launched earlier this year, the OPPO 5G CPE T2 is made partly from PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled Plastics) derived from consumer products.

Reducing paper consumption and reusing waste products
Forests are home to many of the natural resources that humans rely on to survive. However, due to excessive deforestation, the Amazon rainforest has lost 17% of its area over the past 50 years². Deforestation is a direct threat to biodiversity on earth and  recognised as an accelerator of global warming.

To reduce its consumption of wood fibres, OPPO makes use of recycled materials where possible. For example, in Europe, the packaging for the OPPO Find X5 series is made from approximately 45% recycled fibre. This fibre comes from recycled paper or other organic waste, such as sugarcane and bamboo.

Increasing product lifecycles and repurposing e-waste
The volume of electronic waste generated globally has grown by 21% over the past 5 years, making it the fastest-growing category of household waste. Despite this, only 17.4% of electronic waste is recycled³. In recognition of the long-term threat that electronic waste poses to the environment, OPPO is making its products more durable. It has also established recycling programs for electronic waste to minimise the negative impact on the environment.

For example, the latest launch OPPO Find X5 series is equipped with OPPO’s self-developed Battery Health Engine, which helps the smartphone batteries maintain more than 80% of their original capacity after as many as 1,600 full charge cycles using OPPO’s 80W SUPERVOOC flash charge technology. This is more than twice the industry average and ensures that every battery can be used for a longer period before being discarded.

To date, OPPO has already established recycling programs and offered Trade-In service in different countries. Taking China as an example, OPPO collected more than 1.2 million mobile phones in 2021 through its recycling program — an amount equal to more than 216 tons of electronic waste.

OPPO is also helping to promote the recycling of electronic waste through its industrial and NGO partnerships. In Europe, OPPO is providing financial support to local recycling systems, and partnering with professional third-party recycling organisations to implement a recycling program for electronic waste. In Australia, OPPO has been working with the Taronga Conservation Society to call on the public to correctly recycle their electronic waste and reduce the amount of e-waste that ends up in landfills.

OPPO was also one of the first smartphone manufacturers to join the Eco Rating labelling scheme — a program created by a number of leading operators in Europe to evaluate the environmental performance of mobile phones across their entire life cycle. Through its participation in the scheme, OPPO is working with others in the industry to drive sustainable transformation.

Partnering with different stakeholders to promote sustainability through technology
OPPO is not only offering solutions to environmental and sustainability issues through its own technology but also partnering with NGOs to enlist people across the world to help solve these problems.

In Italy, OPPO partnered with a local NGO, Free Plastic Odv Onlus, to hold plastic waste collection activities in 5 cities in 2021. With the help of more than 1,000 volunteers, over 10 tons of plastic waste have been recycled through the program.

In Australia, OPPO has also partnered with the Reef Restoration Foundation (RRF), using an artificial reality (AR) app to raise awareness of the environmental crisis facing the Great Barrier Reef and calling on the public to take action. In 2021, OPPO has also donated over $52,000 to help RRF achieve its mission of producing 1,000,000 new corals on the Great Barrier Reef by 2026.

The protection of the planet’s natural environments and the biodiversity is an issue too big to ignore. With as many as one million species currently under threat of extinction⁴, OPPO hopes to use technology to help preserve the colour and beauty that these species add to nature. For a second consecutive year, OPPO's Endangered Colours campaign with National Geographic uses beautiful imagery of endangered and at-risk animals to inspire more people to preserve the biodiversity of the planet. The campaign also includes support for the non-profit National Geographic Society and its wildlife conservation efforts.

Protecting this Earth is a shared responsibility. OPPO believes that through technological progress and collective action from everyone, we can help protect the Earth’s natural environment. This Earth Day, join OPPO as we work towards a greener future, starting with our own individual actions.  

¹ Data from: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/world-leaders-set-sights-plastic-pollution
² Data from: https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/forests
³ Data from: https://news.un.org/zh/story/2020/07/1061272
⁴ Data from: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/natures-dangerous-decline-unprecedented-species-extinction-rates