GOMI - Portable Chargers That Clean The Planet

GOMI - Portable Chargers That Clean The Planet

At Gomi, we're always looking for new ways that we can create positive impact through design products that rethink waste and help clean up our beautiful planet. This is what led to creating the Gomi Portable Charger - An environmentally-friendly 12,000mAh Portable Charger made from 100% non-recyclable plastic, with 100% of the power coming from repurposed batteries saved from otherwise going to landfill.

We are also offering a free return service to ensure the chargers are fully recycled at the end of life. 

All of our battery cells are taken from local manufacturers who can no longer use the batteries within their products, due to misprints or irregularities. We work with the battery suppliers to take any stock that cannot be used in their products, and would otherwise be sent as waste with regular post-consumer batteries. All of the cells we use are tested to ensure that they are high-performance, safe, and are durable to last long periods of time in the chargers.

Battery waste is a growing issue worldwide, currently over 3 billion batteries are produced every year with no real way to recycle or reuse them in commercial products. With global demand for li-ion batteries forecasted to grow 10% a year from 2020-25, the waste pile of batteries will carry on getting bigger. If electric and hybrid vehicles are removed from the forecast, the number falls to just 4% per year. We are pushing hard to work with electric car manufacturers to ensure that their batteries has a second life. They hope to release portable chargers made from electric car batteries later in the year too.

Plastic waste makes up 85% of the pollution on our beaches around the world, and every year the UK alone throws away 1.2 billion kilos of flexible plastics. Worldwide, 150 billion kilos of flexible plastics are produced every year. Flexible plastic (LDPE) consists of plastic bags, bubble wrap and pallet wrap, which are all not accepted by UK councils for recycling.

At Gomi, we tap into these specific waste streams, and transform it from a pollutant waste into high-powered everyday Portable Chargers.

We work closely with food wholesalers, businesses and individuals in and around Brighton, to recycle all of the plastic packaging waste - intercepting it before it's sent to incineration or landfill. We also accept plastic waste from local households and businesses and celebrate the mix of colours we get from the different waste streams. 

We start every project with one clear question - How can we turn pollutant waste materials into cherished products that people will love using every day? And began with these basic principles when designing the Portable Chargers:

•  Big enough to hold enough battery power to keep you charged for long periods without charge, but slim enough to fit in your pocket.
   
•  Beautiful, with each one being an original work of art. This emotionally durable relationship people have with their objects can be enhanced through owning something truly individual.
   
•  Simple to manufacture in-house in our Brighton workspace, which would benefit the local economy and avoid any long-distance outsourcing which would add to the carbon footprint of the product.
   
•  Easy to disassemble back into raw materials after use, to be easily upcycled into new future products.
   

We have a free return service for recycling - with all the parts designed to be modular, and easily separated so that they can be melted into new components for future products - without losing any material value. We also aim to recycle all of the circuit boards and are planning to work with jewellers who extract the valuable metals from the boards to be given another life.

Check out our website.

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Video and animation by Tobie Tse

Male model Tim Schmütsch

Song Summer Breeze by Blunted Beatz 

Risks and challenges

We have been working on Gomi for over two years, meaning that a lot of the early challenges are behind us. We manufacture all the products in-house, so know we can create the products without relying on outside sources. Numerous rounds of prototypes have been tested rigorously in order to perfect the charger. In doing this project, we aim to stop 1000kg+ of plastic entering landfill sites and the ocean, this will require a process of collecting, sorting, and melting a huge amount of plastic! Thankfully, we are working with many local companies who cannot wait to have a sustainable way of getting rid of their non-recyclable waste - so we are confident that we can work together to ensure all of this plastic is redirected back into our workshop as simply as possible! We have kept the supply chain of the repurposed batteries and the waste plastic local, meaning that we can adapt quickly to any situation that arises and that there will be no delays since no international shipping is required to get our raw materials. We are taking extra measures in sterilising the chargers before we ship it to you, due to the Corona virus situation. We have planned ahead to ensure that the current situations do not affect our timeline of production and delivery of the chargers to our lovely backers.

Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

Environmental commitments

Visit our Environmental Resources Center to learn how Kickstarter encourages sustainable practices.

Long-lasting design

Each Portable Charger is built to last, using high quality production techniques, and quality checking standards before assembling any units. Our recycled plastic material is extremely durable.

Reusability and recyclability

Our products are made with 100% recycled plastic, with the power coming from 100% repurposed waste batteries. We also will accept any chargers at the end of their life, to be returned back to us for further recycling. All of the plastic from old chargers will be recycled into new products, and the batteries recycled. All of our packaging is made from recycled paper, and can be recycled in normal recycling.

Sustainable materials

We use waste plastic and repurposed batteries. Meaning that we save a heap of resources and CO2 by using waste as our raw material in-comparison to making the product from virgin materials.

Sustainable Distribution

We use all recycled materials in our shipping, and post carbon-neutral to ensure it gets to your door in the most environmentally-friendly way.

Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ