Sound experience with the environment in mind

Designed for the future

Sony’s home audio products are engineered for exceptional sound, and with the environment in mind. Under our Green Management 2025 targets, we aim to reduce virgin plastic usage in all our product and packaging designs.

Environmentally conscious products

Serious about sound and the environment

Sony’s home audio products utilise recycled plastics to reducethe amount of virgin plastic used. The choice of material affects sound quality in particular, so we have spent years developing a unique recycled plastic that is both environmentally conscious and conducive to creating high-quality audio products.

Developing recycled plastic

Our recycled plastic is recovered from discs and water bottles. Any films or coatings are removed from the reclaimed plastic, which is then used as part of the base material. Aiming for uncompromising audio quality, we tested a wide variety of combinations to determine the best possible solution for audio products.

[1] Discs  [2] Water bottles  [3] Shredding  [4] Recycled polycarbonate plastic  [5]  Blending virgin plastic, other additives  [6] Pellets

Diagram consisting of two pie charts, illustrating reduced virgin plastic use in the manufacture of home theatre system products (left, now using 50% recycled plastic) and BRAVIA Theatre U (right, now using 40% recycled plastic).
Reducing virgin plastic use in soundbars

Sony’s home audio products use recycled plastic in several components. In 2024, the percentage of recycled plastic used in home theatre system products was approximately 50%, and in BRAVIA Theatre U approximately 40%.

[1]  Recycled plastic Total

Recycled fabric

The fabric used in our products, such as the BRAVIA Theatre Bar 9, BRAVIA Theatre Quad, Sub 7, and Rear 8 is partly made from recycled from PET bottles. The material was carefully selected for optimum sound quality, design, texture, and colour.

Environmentally conscious packaging

We are working to reduce the amount of plastic used in packaging by utilising recycled paper materials for cushioning and inserts, and by using paper-based handles.

Reduction of virgin plastic in new soundbar cartons

In 2025, the packaging for Sony's home audio products will use approximately 75% recycled materials. Consideration is given to reducing the burden on the environment without compromising the design of the packaging and the strength of the product protection.

[1] Recycled materials Total

new soundbar cartons, now using 75% recycled plastic
Image of natural packaging materials on the left and Sony’s packaging on the right.
Sony’s Original Blended Material

We continue to expand the use of our paper material developed with environmental considerations in mind, Original Blended Material, for the packaging of HT-AX7. Original Blended Material is made from bamboo, sugarcane fibre, and post-consumer recycled paper.

Developer Interview

Portrait of an interviewee, Yuko Fujihira.
Yuko Fujihira

Sony Corporation, Home Entertainment & Sound Products Business Group,
Acoustic Design Division, Design Dept. 2

We have been working on the use of recycled plastics in home audio since around 2010. While improving their performance to a level that matches that of virgin plastics, we worked on design aspects, and made these recycled plastics usable in actual products. In 2016 we developed a recycled plastic, used for internal components in our products, which also takes sound quality into account.

 However, further expansion of the use of recycled plastics required that we expand the scope of their application. The material that we have newly developed on this occasion is flame-retardant. During the development process, we pursued the idea of how closely we could approach the sound quality of the materials we used previously. By examining many configurations, repeatedly prototyping and testing strength, we were able to create a material that satisfied the sound quality and physical requirements of the product.