RIYADH — Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) has launched a collaboration with Microsoft to manufacture the first consumer electronic product.

This collaboration has resulted in the manufacture of the first computer mouse with an exterior shell containing 20% recycled ocean plastic. And they named it "The Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse".

SABIC has a strategic vision for plastic recycling, which is mainly represented in its initiative to contribute to the circular economy (TruCircle), which agreed with Microsoft desire Microsoft to began this project with an objective of creating a plastic resin made from at least 10% recycled ocean plastic as part of its commitment to achieve zero waste by 2030.

The Microsoft design team collaborated with technologists at SABIC to provide feedback on prototypes made with the new resin.

This effort resulted in several rounds of reformulation prior to arriving at a final version that exceeded Microsoft’s initial 10% goal. The final product contains 20% recycled ocean plastic by weight in its external casing or “shell.”

This cooperation comes to support the use of technology, in addition to the plastic waste treatment in the oceans and beaches through recycling due its importance in solving this problem, as it has become one of the major environmental escalating challenges in the world.

SABIC said that it aspires to develop a new type of Xenoy resin, which will be one of the compounds of the new synthetic material, and will be presented as part of SABIC's TruCircle range of products and services for use in Microsoft products. 20% of this resin will be recycled plastic from the oceans.

As part of SABIC’S TruCircle portfolio and services, this new Xenoy resin with recycled ocean plastic can help reduce plastic waste in the ocean. For example, based on a resin grade comprised of 20% recycled content, for every 1kT of product containing recycled ocean-plastic Xenoy PC/PET compound, an equivalent of 24 million single-use 0.5 liter PET water bottles is removed from the ocean, ocean-feeding waterways, or ocean-adjacent shores.

Abdullah Al-Otaibi, ETP & market solution general manager at SABIC, said that this innovative solution represents a great success for the company, as it faced challenges in overcoming the degradation of ocean plastics to create this innovative solution due to exposure to sunlight and water.

Al-Otaibi noted that the collaboration with Microsoft is a major development in the plastic recycling field and its use to manufacture high-quality consumer electronic products, and play a role in cleaning the world's oceans at the same time.

Frank Kuijpers, general manager corporate sustainability at SABIC, said that this addition to TruCircle portfolio services is a positive process for expansion to provide new value from used plastics by creating more sustainable materials.

Donna Warton, VP supply chain and sustainability at Microsoft said that we are proud of the collaboration with SABIC that created this new resin from a challenging material that would otherwise remain in the ocean as waste. We hope that this first step on recycled ocean plastic will spur further action in our industry and are excited for customers to be able to experience the product.

This cooperation came as part of SABIC’s to become a frontrunner in the industry for the development of ocean-bound plastics. These ocean and ocean-bound materials form part of SABIC’s TruCircle portfolio and services, which showcase the company’s circular innovations and can help to provide our customers with access to more sustainable materials. — SG