The Sony Group's Green Management 2010 mid-term environmental targets include targets for the reduction of annual energy consumption, resource conservation, the management of chemical substances and the implementation of life cycle assessments. Sony has set targets and conducts product environmental assessments for each of its existing products, while at the same time striving to develop new products that are more eco-conscious. CO2 emissions over the lifetime of Sony products sold in fiscal year 2008 amounted to approximately 23.53 million tons, approximately 22% higher than those for products sold in fiscal 2007. For products sold in fiscal year 2008, Sony used approximately 1.27 million tons of resources, equivalent level with fiscal year 2007, and approximately 130,000 tons of reused/recycled materials, down approximately 1% from the previous fiscal year.*1 As a consequence, Sony's reused/recycled materials utilization rate was approximately 10%. Sony also understands the importance of recovering and reusing the resources of end-of-life products. As a manufacturer, Sony acknowledges its responsibility for ensuring the appropriate disposal and treatment of end-of-life products, and promotes the collection and recycling of its products in compliance with the laws and regulations of countries and regions around the world. In fiscal year 2008, Sony recovered approximately 91,000 tons of resources from end-of-life products. This includes resources recycled from televisions and PCs collected in Japan, the reuse/recycling rate*2 for which was approximately 58%.
For further information on specific activities aimed at reducing the environmental impact of Sony's products and services, see:
| *1 | Use of resources in products: Total resources used in products, accessories, manuals and packaging materials. The total weight of products shipped is used for the purpose of calculation. |
| *2 | This calculation assumes an average period of use from time of sale of 10 years for televisions and seven years for PCs. The resulting percentage is the total weight of Sony televisions and PCs recovered by Sony in fiscal year 2008 as a percentage of the total weight of all Sony televisions and PCs sold 10 years and seven years ago, respectively. |
The Sony Group's Green Management 2010 mid-term targets include targets for products which involve the reduction of annual power consumption, the promotion of resource conservation, the management of chemical substances and life-cycle assessments. Business groups formulate annual targets that are consistent with Green Management 2010 and reflect the unique characteristics of each product category, and regularly review progress toward achieving these targets, subsequently reporting their findings to the department in charge of environmental functions at Sony's headquarters. This department evaluates the targets and progress of each business group, using these evaluations as the basis for its review of the Sony Group's progress toward achieving its environmental targets. Based on the results of this review, Sony determines areas of focus and revises targets for the subsequent fiscal year. By thus setting specific targets and conducting environmental assessments for all products, Sony is stepping up efforts to develop eco-conscious products.
With the aim of identifying the environmental impact of products at all stages of their life cycles, Sony conducts product life cycle assessments (LCAs) that quantify the impact of materials and parts production, product assembly and transport, product use and standby mode, and end of life (i.e., disposal and recycling). LCAs help us to clarify priorities for improvement and environmental impact reduction measures.
One of Sony's Green Management 2010 mid-term environmental targets is to conduct LCAs for all major products. In line with this target, Sony is conducting LCAs for numerous products, including liquid crystal display(LCD) televisions, Blu-ray Disc™ recorders, digital video cameras, digital still cameras, home and portable audio products and professional-use cameras.
Going forward, Sony will continue working to quantify environmental impact at each stage of its products' life cycles using LCAs and to make appropriate modifications, thereby lowering the overall environmental impact of its products.
This section introduces trends in the environmental impact (CO2 emissions) of some products, and our efforts to reduce their environmental impact.
LCA Results for Liquid Crystal Display Televisions
Thanks to reduced power consumption when in use, reduce the number of parts and introduce recycled materials, CO2 emissions from the KDL-32JE1 model of the BRAVIA™ LCD television, released in July 2008, were approximately 20%, lower than those of the KDL-32J1 model, launched in March 2008. Through ongoing efforts to lower energy consumption, the KDL-32J5 model, launched in February 2009, boasts approximately 30% less CO2 emissions than the KDL-32J1.
| Years of use: 6.4 years for DCR-SR87 2.7 years for DSC-W220 and 5.5 years for DPF-V900 |
Product transportation: 5404 kilometers air transport for DCR-SR87 5404 kilometers air transport for DSC-W220 and 5404 kilometers (by cargo ship for DPF-V900 |
