Samsung wants to reuse 157 tons of rare metals from Galaxy Note 7

Samsung has said it expects to recover a total of 157 tons of rare metals from recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. In addition, Samsung will collect certain reusable electronic parts from the devices.

Samsung says it is relaunching the Galaxy Note 7 to reduce the waste of materials. The refurbished device, called Note Fan Edition, has since been released in South Korea. The Note FE gets many of the components from the variants that caught fire last year. Samsung has looked at which recalled copies of the Note 7 qualify for re-release as Note FE; remaining copies of the recalled Note 7 will be recycled starting this month.

Parts that Samsung wants to reuse are, for example, OLED screens, memory parts and camera modules. To the extent that they are not re-used, the parts are sold or used as ‘service materials’. In addition, an estimated 157 tons of gold, copper, silver and cobalt will be collected for reuse.

In March, it was announced that Samsung would re-sell the Galaxy Note 7 as a refurbished device, as part of a plan to recycle the discontinued Note 7 devices in an environmentally friendly way. Samsung recalled the phone in October last year due to various battery problems. In January, Samsung presented the results of an investigation into the flaming batteries in the phone.

The Note Fan Edition will probably be released in a limited edition. According to business newspaper The Wall Street Journal, the major South Korean providers together get about 400,000 copies. The Note FE seems to be largely the same device as the Note 7, except for the battery. The capacity is not 3,500mAh, but 3,200mAh. Samsung has also updated the software so that the Note FE has the digital assistant Bixby.