You may have read about the environmental impact created by plastic bottles and bags, the impact due to the plastic phone cases is lost in translation. Get ready for a big alert, smartphone covers are disrupting your endocrine system and could lead to reproductive and developmental problems. You probably would have read it twice, but you read it right the first time. Plastic phone cases use harmful chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and others. But aren’t these Plastic wastes collected and sent to recycling procedures? They do, but not all sizes of phone cases are accepted at the recycling facilities and not all are straightforward. Then, what is the solution? you may ask. Bio-based phone cases. We have a lot to talk about the topic and let’s begin.

People buy phone cases for smartphones and they are discarded in dumps. It takes hundreds of years for them to deteriorate fully. The globe has become more plastic-conscious than ever before, but plastic phone cases have seeped into fashion and become more staple accessory as they serve more than protection to these smartphones.

When the threat is highly evident, there lies a misconception that replacing plastic phone cases isn’t important. Phone cases are considered smaller items when compared to plastic bags and the life of phone cases is comparatively longer and the rate of disposal should be lesser than single-use items like plastic bags. But the problem is bigger than it appears. About 80.63% of the global population has a smartphone. (No surprise here.) and in the US alone, about 79% of the country’s smartphone users own plastic phone cases. There is nothing to be surprised of the fact.

There is no way out other than switching to bio-based alternatives. BASF’s innovative Elastollan is expected to have a great impact in that regard.

What is BASF’s Innovative Elastollan?

BASF’s innovative Elastollan is a bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that has about 53% bio-based content.

Features:

and so on.

Elastollan is utilized in a wide range of industrial sectors such as automobiles, electronics, sports shoes, medicine, food, and other technologies.

Recently, Hamee Corps, headquartered in Japan and operating branches in Korea, Shanghai, and the US has utilized Elastollan N for their phone cases range called “HIGHER”. The range of phone cases exhibits TPU’s excellent features such as supreme durability, and transparency. However, the addition of a bio-based version has further optimized the UV resistance and anti-yellowing properties.

Tomoyuki Matsuda, the head of Product Development at Hamee Corp, expressed joy over the successful launch of the bio-based phone cases 'HIGHER', which are also the first MagSafe-compatible covers.

How well it is received on the consumer side?

Since its launch in 2021, the HIGHER range has achieved a cumulative total of over 60 SKUs!

Thus the company is extremely delighted to have developed their new product as they produce products with high performance with sustainable material solutions such as Elastollan N.

The company has reported that its product range ‘HIGHER’ will be exhibited at CHINAPLAS 2024 located in Shanghai, China, between the dates April 23-26 this year.

Takeaway:

Plastic phone cases have caused great distress to marine life and the ecosystem as the growing demand for these phone cases causes an immense amount of plastic waste disposed into the earth in a brief period. Not just that, it also uses plenty of resources like oil, and natural gas for processing. Extending the usage of phone cases is expected to cut down the probability of chances to buy new ones, however, the problem would still linger. Therefore, the inclusion of bio-based products and their replacements for every household item would lead to the birth of a better world.