Sprint Nextel and Samsung have announced Samsung Reclaim as the first phone in the US constructed from eco-friendly bio-plastic materials. With a hardware casing made with corn-derived bio-plastics, a charger that consumes 12 times less power than the Energy Star recommendation and packing that is 70 per cent recyclable, the Reclaim has many elements that make it sustainable.

Operating on 3G network, Samsung Reclaim boasts One Click, Sprint’s customisable user interface with quick access to social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. The full-featured phone offers: a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard; 2 megapixel camera with 3x digital zoom and camcorder; advanced stereo Bluetooth 2.0; expandable memory storage up to 32GB; an integrated Web browser; and two colour options – Earth Green and Ocean Blue.

Its bio-plastic material, made from corn makes up 40 per cent of the Reclaim’s outer casing. Samsung Reclaim is claimed to be free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates and nearly free of brominated flame retardants (BFR). The outer packaging and the phone tray inside the box are made from 70 per cent recycled materials. The images and text on the box as well as the phone warranty information are printed with soy-based ink.

Researched by Maninder