What is Waste Responsible Innovation?

• HOW OUR WASTE INNOVATION WORKS

Most standard plastics naturally biodegrade but their particles are just too large for microorganisms to consume in our lifetime (or even centuries/thousands of years). The special biodegradation plastics in our new Enhanced cases biodegrade within just a few years.

Protection is always at the forefront of our minds so we needed to ensure whatever we did to make our cases more sustainable would not affect their durability and long-lasting performance. Our research and development team have developed an additive formula that could be added to our standard protection materials.

With this additive, microorganisms can start feasting the moment the case is thrown into a regular waste bin and moved into a landfill environment. But until then, you will still get the same great multi-drop protection you’ve come to expect from Tech21.

As the microorganisms feed on the case, it breaks down into particles that are small enough to digest in a shorter timeframe than any other regular plastic phone case. When we tested the decomposition of the cases containing our enhanced additive, we discovered they had biodegraded by more than 21% after just 318 days*.

Keeping the phone cases plastic means they remain durable throughout the lifetime of the device, saving your tech from countless drops and accidents and you from paying out for replacement cases – and all the manufacturing and shipping costs that entails – before your next upgrade.

• What's NEXT?

While not all of our products are where we want them to be just yet, we are making steps to ensure our entire range is environmentally friendly. New technologies and processes are always being developed with an eye on sustainability and the environment and you can guarantee Tech21 will be at the forefront of this when it comes to tech protection.

WE INDEPENDENTLY TEST OUR CASE DEGRADATION

Eden Research Laboratory from Albuquerque, NM, is a US-based independent testing laboratory focused on testing materials that require validation of their biodegradability or compostability.

Our independent tests carry out biodegradation tests in accordance with various testing methods. Specifically for Tech21, testing is carried out in accordance with ASTM D5511 - Standard Test Method for Determining Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under High-Solids Anaerobic-Digestion Conditions Considering Gas Evolution.

*All the plastic materials used in the construction of our Evo Check, Evo Lite and Evo Tactile cases have been tested in accordance with ASTM D5511 and have biodegraded by more than 21% after 318 days. These products are not considered biodegradable in California, Maryland, or Washington.