Words by Smiley Team
In an attempt to improve its environmental standards, Japanese tech company Sony has developed a new eco-friendly material for more sustainable packaging. Made from bamboo, sugarcane fibre and recycled paper, the innovation will help improve their impact on nature.
The “Original Blended Material” is made so it can be recycled without any plastic involved. The natural fibres strengthen it so it lasts longer and still protects the products it encloses.
“The purpose of using this material is to 'communicate' to customers to make them more aware of the environment,” commented Sony on their website. “We thought of telling them the ‘where’, the ‘what’, the ‘how’, and the ‘why’. In essence, for Sony, environmental awareness is not something that can be achieved simply by providing products.
They added: “Environmental cycles occur depending on the actions of those who understand that concept. Based on this idea, we visited various environments, carefully selected raw materials, and combined them by making the most of their characteristics to create materials that are functionally optimised and converted them into ‘materials for communication’. We hope this packaging will help to communicate the message to people.”
The company will use its new material to package the WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, following which they plan to expand this material for packaging progressively more of their products.
When harvesting bamboo for the packaging, farmers only pick the necessary quantity, sorting and cutting it down to ensure bamboo forests remain intact, offering vital wildlife habitats. The bamboo is cultivated in three mountains in China’s Guizhou Province, where they avoid encroaching on panda habitats that are found elsewhere.
The advantage of using sugarcane is that fibres can be extracted from the leftovers of sugar manufacturing processes. Most of these leftovers are burnt as fuel for power generation, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Instead, by incorporating it into this new material Sony offers it a new life.
Sony sources recycled paper locally to its packaging factories. They strengthen the material by combining it with the bamboo and sugarcane.
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