Turning fridges into SIM cards: An ecological SIM portfolio

Inevitably, most SIM cards will end up as waste. However, there is another way. In this blog we’ll be looking at the efforts being made to make SIM cards greener.  

A long-standing commitment to reducing environmental impact

At Thales, we have developed a range of SIM solutions designed to help mobile operators reduce the environmental impact associated with their SIM activities while meeting their connectivity needs.

Our commitment in this area spans many years. Some key milestones include:

2009 – We measured our first global carbon footprint and launched action plans targeting our most significant sources of emissions.

2014 – To reduce material consumption and waste, we introduced the Half SIM Trio, an innovation aimed at optimising plastic use in SIM card formats.

2020 – We partnered with Veolia, a global specialist in resource management, to co-develop  the world’s first EcoSIM, an eco-designed SIM card made from 100% post-consumer recycled polystyrene recovered from end-of-life refrigerators.

Turning old fridges into new SIM cards  

After three years of joint development, Thales and Veolia mastered the process of turning polystyrene waste from these discarded fridges into pellets that are then used to manufacture the SIM card body. 

This eco-designed product is part of an innovative portfolio that also includes Eco Touch SIM packaging. Together, these solutions help telecom operators reduce their reliance on virgin plastic and support a more circular approach to SIM card production and distribution.

Completing the offer with packaging designed to reduce material use

With more than 300 million packs delivered each year and more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications sector as the world’s number one provider of SIM packaging, we’ve designed an ecofriendly packaging offer with: 

• Vegetal & water-based inks for safer products 
• Small and smart layouts to reduce paper consumption 
• Recycled papers to decrease waste and Certified papers to protect forests

EcoSIM: a SIM card incorporating recycled materials and supported by a carbon reduction and compensation programme

In addition to incorporating recycled materials in the card body, Thales has assessed the carbon footprint of the SIM and supports certified projects addressing residual emissions.

The carbon footprint of each SIM has been calculated and offset through a program that supports impactful emission reduction projects – such as energy savings and renewable energy development in developing countries. 

For this launch received a “Best Practice on Circular Economy” award from telecom operator sustainability association JAC, in recognition of our consistent approach regarding environmental impact reduction in products. This award was given in recognition of everything through from the recycled card body, half card, energy efficiency of sites, renewable electricity sourcing, carbon offset offer, and life cycle assessment tool for the eco-design of the SIM products. 

Increasingly, it’s important for companies to take a “Life Cycle” approach to product design. 

What is “Life Cycle” thinking?

Life cycle thinking is a holistic approach to tackling the environmental impact of products beyond manufacturing. This style of thinking considers the processes involved in the use of a product from the point of its creation to the end of its useful life. 

Here at Thales, we use this approach for the development of our eco-designed products where raw materials extraction, material processing, transportation, distribution, consumption, reuse/recycling, and disposal are examined to seek opportunities to reduce environmental impacts throughout the product life cycle.

Thanks to our global manufacturing footprint, we are able to produce SIM cards closer to many of our customers, which can contribute to reducing transportation-related emissions.