Rhinoshield

Rhinoshield is a Taiwanese consumer electronics accessories company best known for manufacturing impact-resistant mobile phone cases and screen protectors. Founded in 2012, the company has expanded internationally and positions itself as a materials engineering–focused brand. Since the late 2010s, RHINOSHIELD has increasingly emphasized sustainability, circular materials design, and plastic waste management as part of its corporate strategy.

History

RHINOSHIELD was founded by Taiwanese materials scientist Wang Ching-fu, who has a PhD in polymer and materials engineering from the University of Cambridge. The company initially gained recognition for its shock-absorbing phone cases designed to withstand high-impact drops. By the mid-2010s, RHINOSHIELD products were distributed globally through e-commerce platforms and international retail channels.
In the late 2010s, the company began reassessing the environmental impact of mobile phone accessories, a product category characterized by short replacement cycles and low recycling rates. This shift marked the beginning of RHINOSHIELD's focus on circular design and plastic lifecycle management.

Products

RHINOSHIELD's primary products include mobile phone cases, screen protectors, and related accessories. The company is known for developing proprietary polymer materials designed to balance durability and flexibility.
Beginning in 2017, RHINOSHIELD redesigned parts of its product line to reduce material complexity, emphasizing single-material construction to improve recyclability. The company later introduced products manufactured using recycled phone case materials, which it states can be reprocessed multiple times while maintaining structural performance.

Sustainability and circular design

RHINOSHIELD frames its sustainability strategy around what it describes as "plastic management", focusing on reducing the use of virgin plastics and improving end-of-life recovery. The company has stated a long-term objective of achieving "plastic-negative" operations, meaning that it aims to remove more plastic from the environment than it introduces through manufacturing.
To support this goal, RHINOSHIELD has invested in material traceability, reverse logistics, and recycling infrastructure for mobile phone accessories—an area that historically lacks standardized recycling systems due to mixed-material construction.

CircularBlue marine waste initiative

In the early 2020s, RHINOSHIELD launched the "CircularBlue" initiative, a research and development project that uses artificial intelligence to perform marine plastic waste collection and data gathering. The program represents the company's expansion beyond consumer products into environmental technology experimentation.
In 2025, RHINOSHIELD unveiled the first prototype of its marine waste filtration platform, named "ChangeMaker", at Singda Harbor in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The floating platform, developed over approximately 18 months, reportedly involved an investment of over US$2 million. The structure measures approximately by and uses a semi-submersible design inspired by offshore industrial platforms to maintain stability in varying sea conditions.
The ChangeMaker platform integrates:

A floating base station powered primarily by solar energy
Uncrewed surface vessels designed to collect marine debris
Uncrewed aerial vehicles equipped with artificial intelligence for debris detection and monitoring

According to the company, the system is designed to operate autonomously, identifying floating waste, dispatching collection vessels, and returning materials to the platform for storage and analysis.

Research, education, and proposed uses

In addition to waste collection, the CircularBlue platform includes limited on-board living facilities, such as capsule-style sleeping quarters. RHINOSHIELD has stated that these facilities are intended for short-term research, marine observation, and environmental education activities. The company has also indicated that eco-tourism or offshore educational visits may be explored in the future, though such uses remain in the planning and testing phase.
Industry observers have noted that marine waste recovery faces significant economic challenges, as the cost of collection often exceeds the market value of recycled materials. RHINOSHIELD has acknowledged these limitations and described CircularBlue as a proof-of-concept project rather than a commercially proven system.