Thank You CyberShack: 'Vegan Leather' Material On Mobile Phones Does NOT Make Them Eco-Friendly

Thank You CyberShack: 'Vegan Leather' Material On Mobile Phones Does NOT Make Them Eco-Friendly

I have to confess that movements by mobile phone businesses to get into the 'eco-friendly' and 'vegan' world in the construction and appearance of mobile phones eluded me until quite recently I accidentally came upon this recent article in tech journal CyberShack:

'CyberShack’s view – Vegan leather is an oxymoron
Environmentalists are now calling out vegan leather as ‘green washing’. So, stop calling this Petro/Chemical ‘soup’ vegan leather. Call it anything else and offer some insight into what it is made of and its durability.
It is simply a convenient and deceptive marketing term. At least Mercedes et al. had the sense to invent a name for it – Alcantara and give full disclosure.'

Spot on observation about 'vegan leather' term being greenwashing - but what has it got to do with tech an mobile phones I ask?

A bit of research and here it is. Not just 'eco-friendly' but 'vegan-friendly' mobile phone products. My limited view has been on fashion apparel and accessories and not including mobile phones in the accessories cateogy.

1.In vegan publication Vegan Kind: Chinese company Oppo which is the fifth-largest phone manufacturer in the world launched a premium smartphone which is suitable for vegans.

oppo phone with vegan friendly trust mark

This announcement made in 2020 claimed it was 'suitable for vegans' because its case had a backing of 'vegan leather'.

2. In vegan publication in 2020 VegNews: Oppo Launches Vegan Leather-Wrapped Smartphone

3. In journal Philstar in 2020 What A Find: An Eco-Friendly Smartphone With Vegan Leather. This article makes incredible claims like this one:

'...the vegan leather edition Oppo Find X2 Pro adopts top-grade environmentally friendly material...'

4. In vegan publication in 2023 Vegan Leather Phone? Checkout Oppo Find X2 Pro

Thank you so much Cybershack for highlighting this.

Manufacturers, advertisers and marketers making these claims about the 'vegan leather' textile encasing mobile phones need to take a very serious look at what they are doing and (1) stop it (2) if they want eco-friendly leather look then partner with a true no-plastic manufacturer not a manufacturer of plast PU, PVC, PVB.

In Australia last week the competition regulator issued its guidance note for business in relation to making environmental and sustainability claims. Resellers of products making these claims need to take a look at these guidelines.

And to Oppo and Huwaei: if you want to encase you phones in eco-friendly and cruelty-free leather-look durable materials please contact us. We can organise it for you.

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