Sustainable Brands Japan Site Sony, Bamboo, Sugar Cane, Recycled Paper New Package Development Starts to Completely Abolish Plastics for Small Product Packaging Materials

Sony announced on the 9th that it has developed an "original blend material" made from bamboo and sugar cane pomace specified in the production area near the production base in the supply chain as a packaging material for new small household appliances. .. It is a durable and strong recyclable paper material that does not use any plastic. In the medium-term environmental target for 2021 to 2025, which was set in September last year, the company set out to completely eliminate plastic packaging materials for small products to be newly designed by 2025. The new material will be adopted as the first package of fully wireless headphones scheduled to be released on the 25th of this month. According to the company, it is designed to raise the awareness of the environment among purchasers, featuring a texture that makes the best use of the characteristics of recycled materials, and plans to use it in the packaging of various products in the future. (Tomoko Hirosue)

The new material was jointly developed by the Sony Group's creative center, which handles the design of the product, and the "Mechanical Strategy Committee," which is an in-house cross-organization that examines mechanical design such as the structure of parts inside the product. In 2018, the Creative Center will add a packaging material with a cushioning material and protective material made of felt material recycled from PET bottles to the latest package of the dog-shaped robot "aibo" that the company has been selling since 1999. We are focusing on the development of materials that reduce the environmental load with an emphasis on design, such as developing and receiving the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at the Japan Packaging Contest. This new material also has a unique texture by intentionally making it uncolored in order to take advantage of the various shades that are characteristic of recycled materials. Bamboo, sugar cane pomace generated in the process of producing sugar, and used paper are used as raw materials for the new material. Bamboo grows fast, and if it becomes dense, it hinders the growth of other deciduous trees and disturbs the vegetation of the forest. Since it is a cause of CO2) emissions, the trend of using it as a sustainable material has become widespread in recent years, and the company has selected this as an alternative material to plastic.

Bamboo is limited to China, sugar cane is limited to Thailand near his supply chain

On top of that, the characteristic of this material is that bamboo is from Guizhou, China, and sugar cane is cultivated in a field within a radius of 100 km from Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. The reason why the production area was limited to China and Thailand instead of Japan is that the company's supply chain centered on production bases for headphones, cameras, TVs, etc. has expanded to China and Southeast Asia. Procurement in Southeast Asia has the purpose of reducing the environmental burden of transportation. Furthermore, when limiting these production areas, the person in charge actually visited the site and made a decision after confirming that bamboo and sugar cane were cut or cultivated in the sustainable growing cycle. It is said that the type of bamboo used is different from the bamboo used to feed the pandas that live in the mountains. Furthermore, in addition to these two materials, we succeeded in giving strength by combining used paper (recycled paper) collected near the local factory. By changing these blend ratios, it is possible to make various shapes, and it is expected that the range of utilization will expand. In addition, since "embossing" is possible to create irregularities on the surface, it is possible to insert characters without using ink, which does not impose a burden on the environment. By not using any plastic material, the package can be put out as "recyclable waste" of each local government without being sorted by the purchaser, which makes consumers aware of the environment and recycling. There is also the aim of increasing improvement. The Sony Group has a long-term vision of achieving "zero environmental impact" throughout its business activities and product life cycle by 2050, and has set a goal of 2025 for "plastic packaging for newly designed small products." "Complete abolition of materials" is part of that. Based on this, the audio division will gradually reduce the usage rate of plastics in packaging materials such as "sealed inner ear receivers" by 90% or more, and will also work on reducing the packaging volume of TVs, and LCD TVs to be released in 2019. In the series, the amount of styrofoam used has been reduced by up to 19% compared to the previous model. For batteries for digital cameras and video cameras, we are also promoting the "paper boxing" of conventional plastic packages. This time, the completely wireless headphones "WF-1000XM4", which adopted the company's first "packaging material that does not use plastic at all", is the previous model by using new materials for the outer box, inner box, product protection sheet, etc. Compared to this, the case is 40% smaller and the main body is 10% smaller. Kenichi Hirose, a designer at the Sony Group Creative Center, who worked on the development of new materials, said, "The essential environmental consideration does not work just by making and providing things, and the customers who received it. Based on this idea, we will look around the environment where plants grow in various parts of the world, carefully select the raw materials that are the basis of the environment, and make the best use of their characteristics. This material is combined, functionally optimized, and sublimated into a "material to convey" as a design. We hope that our thoughts on the environment will reach our customers through this package. I am. "

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