KORE, a global pure-play Internet of Things (IoT) hyperscaler and provider of IoT connectivity, solutions and analytics, has launched an initiative to reduce waste and support sustainability by reducing the size of card bodies in its SIM shipments.
SIM cards power cellular connectivity in everything from smartphones to connected vehicles and are a vital part of consumer technology, as well as IoT. Since the commercial launch of SIM cards three decades ago, approximately 4.5 billion SIM cards are sold and shipped each year industry-wide, accounting for more than 560,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 18,000+ tons of plastic waste annually.
“KORE consistently looks for ways to leverage IoT to help organisations with their sustainability and environmental goals,” says KORE president and CEO Romil Bahl. “We also evaluate our own processes and products to find ways to have a positive impact on global sustainability initiatives. “
While the SIM card has reduced in size over the last three decades, the packaging the card body that holds the SIM has not. The KORE initiative reduces the card body by 50% and, relating to SIM cards, is expected to:
- Reduce shipping costs by 50% due to the weight reduction
- Reduce KORE’s carbon footprint by 16%
- Aid customers in reducing plastic waste by 50%
In addition to reducing the overall form factor of the SIM card, KORE is also a provider of eSIM with its OmniSIM, which takes environmental goals to a new level. Traditional SIM cards need to be swapped when network changes occur, whereas an eSIM can be provisioned remotely and used the entire device lifecycle. Eliminating the need to physically swap SIM cards reduces both plastic and the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing and shipping new SIM cards. Overall, KORE saves 24 tons of CO2 in its eSIM shipments.
KORE discussed its OmniSIM suite at Mobile World Congress Barcelona during the eSIM Summit in a keynote address by Bahl titled “eSIM: The Future of IoT Connectivity.” KORE also presented in a panel discussion “eSIM: Enabling the Age of Zero-Touch Provisioning.”
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