Sustainable Audio | Sony Audio

Image of a sound bar on a TV stand in the living room and a TV on the wall.

A sound choice for the environment

Designed for the future

Sony’s 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 consumption in all our product and packaging designs.

The image of a soundbar and four square speakers arranged in angles.

Eco-conscious products

Serious about sound and the environment

Sony Home Audio products utilize recycled plastics to reduce the 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.

Image of a soundbar broken down into seven components next to a pile of plastic pellets.

Developing recycled plastic

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

Illustration showing discs and water bottles being turned into recycled polycarbonate plastic then blending them together to create plastic pellets.

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

Reducing virgin plastic use in soundbars

Our new soundbar utilizes recycled plastic for various components. As a result, it uses approximately 65% less virgin plastic than the previous model.

[1] 2021 model [2] 2024 model

Illustration showing a soundbar above two bar graphs showing a decrease in the use of virgin plastics by 65%.

Recycled fabric

The fabric used in our products, such as the BRAVIA Theatre Bar 9 and BRAVIA Theatre Quad, is recycled from PET¹ bottles.The material was carefully selected for optimum sound quality, design, texture and colour.

A collage image comprising five photographs. The top row features a plastic bottle and two different colours of fabric; the bottom row includes a soundbar, a neck speaker, and a square speaker.

Image of the outer paper packaging for each of the soundbar and wall-mounted speaker.

Eco-conscious packaging

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

Alignment images of soundbar, wall-mounted speaker, and neck speaker and their respective outer paper packages.

Reduction of virgin plastic in new soundbar cartons

The packaging carton for our new soundbar uses 95% less virgin plastic than the previous model². We also reduced the amount of printing, resulting in a 60% reduction in the amount of ink used. The aim is for packaging that is both environmentally conscious, durable, and beautifully designed without compromising functionality.

[1] 2021 model [2] 2024 model

Illustration showing a soundbar packaging carton and two bar graphs showing a decrease in the use of virgin plastics by 65%.

Sony’s Original Blended Material

TWe continue to expand the use of our environmentally conscious paper material, Original Blended Material, for the packaging of HT-AX7. Original Blended Material is an environmentally conscious paper material made from bamboo, sugarcane fibres, and post-consumer recycled paper.

Learn more about Original Blended Material

Image of natural packaging materials on the left and Sony’s packaging on the right.

Disassembled image of two types of paper packages.

Developer Interview

Yuko Fujihira

Sony Corporation, Home Entertainment & Sound Products Business Group,

Acoustic Design Division, Design Dept. 2

Portrait of an interviewee, Yuko Fujihira.

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.