Google LLC is stepping up its efforts to help the environment with a pledge to use recycled materials in all of its “Made by Google” hardware products by 2022.

Google’s hardware product portfolio is quite substantial. It includes its Pixel phones, Pixelbooks, Google Home smart speakers, Chromecast devices, Nest thermostat and accessories such as phone cases.

The company has already begun using recycled materials in some of its products. For example, its Chromecast devices are all built using recycled plastic, while the fabric covers on its Google Home devices are made from recycled plastic bottles.

The pledge to use recycled materials for all of its products is quite admirable, but it’s important to note they won’t be made entirely out of repurposed materials. Doing so would be virtually impossible, but the company did say it would try to maximize its use of repurposed plastics and metals wherever possible.

Google’s initiative isn’t new for the tech industry. Other companies such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Ltd. have made similar efforts. For example, the aluminum cases on Apple’s MacBook Air and Mac Mini laptops are all made using recycled metal, and the company also takes back old iPhones and strips them down to recycle many of their components. Samsung, meanwhile, made a promise earlier this year to use only sustainable materials in its product packaging from now on.

Google has also promised to ensure that all product shipments will be “carbon neutral” by 2020. The company has already made good progress there, according to Anna Meegan, Google’s head of sustainability for hardware. She told Fast Company that its reduced emissions by 40% simply by switching from air shipments to cargo ships.

Google has also made a big effort to reduce the carbon footprint of its massive data centers, consistently meeting its renewable energy targets. This year it said it had purchased enough energy from renewable sources to match the total energy output of its data centers for the second year running.

Google also offers a program for consumers that allows them to return old products to be recycled at no cost, though it’s currently only available in the U.S.

Photo: Google