Under its Road to Zero environmental plan, the Sony Group aims to minimize resource inputs, and has been pursuing the introduction of recycled materials in its home audio and other products for some time. However, in the case of ABS, the plastic mainly used in headphones, the lack of a recycled material on the market with high quality and a high recycled ratio has slowed the introduction of recycled materials. Therefore, we decided to develop a recycled ABS that is easy to use and has a high recycled content.

In cooperation with partner companies, we have newly developed a recycled ABS that allows a variety of colouring without the addition of virgin plastic by precisely sorting unpigmented ABS scrap material by colour. With LinkBuds, we tried to create a delicate appearance comparable to virgin ABS, which was difficult to achieve with conventional recycled ABS.

We have begun to introduce this recycled ABS in many headphone models. We will continue to take on further challenges in line with the Road to Zero plan.

Sony is making changes to its headphones, both new models and products already on the market, with the aim of eliminating all plastic from their packaging. To reduce the amount of plastic used in packaging to zero across the board is not an easy task, as it is costly and the role of packaging differs depending on product characteristics, sales conditions, and customers. However, we believe that we were able to create packaging responsive to environmental considerations without compromising on functionality or appeal precisely because Sony has kept environmental considerations in mind from the initial stages of product creation.

The new WH-1000XM5 model introduces Sony’s proprietary paper Original Blended Material for the product box, and is the first model to carry the Original Blended Material logo. The design has been changed considerably from the previous WH-1000XM4 model, with the package designed to convey increased consideration for the environment.

 We believe that for the cycle of sustainability to be realized, as well as creating products—of course—it’s also necessary to get customers to recycle those products to close the cycle. We will continue, while manufacturing products, to always consider what kind of products are appropriate to make for the planet.