In 2010, Sony Digital Products (Wuxi) Co., Ltd., installed a system for recycling industrial water from its site. General industrial water and industrial water containing metals, nickel and phosphoric acid are pretreated and then treated using high-pressure reverse osmosis membrane and hydrophobic adsorbent resin filtration, enabling them to be used in manufacturing processes requiring pure water. Sony Digital Products (Wuxi) currently recycles 71% of the wastewater from its facility and expects to boost this to a maximum of 93% in the future. This recycling system for industrial effluents has enabled Sony Digital Products (Wuxi) to reduce its annual water consumption by 19,000 m3, as well as to significantly lower the volume of wastewater and waste effluents it generates.

In 2008, Sony Electronics (Wuxi) Co., Ltd., introduced a system for recycling sewage effluents into water for use in toilets. The site has further reduced the volume of water it requires by using rainwater as makeup water in its cooling towers.

Sony is also taking steps to promote the recycling of water in southern China. By using water recycled from sewer effluents in its toilets, Sony Precision Devices (Huizhou) Co., Ltd., has succeeded in reducing its annual water consumption by 23,000 m3.

In the past, Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation Kumamoto Technology Center (Kumamoto TEC) simply discharged the wastewater it produced into the sewer. However, by measuring the quality of water to be released through different discharge routes, Kumamoto TEC is now able to identify and recover water that is of a high enough quality to reuse, thereby increasing its water recovery rate. Kumamoto TEC also puts water not of a high enough quality to be recovered as is through a wastewater neutralization process, thereby also facilitating its recovery and reuse. Kumamoto TEC also uses specialized filtration equipment to remove impurities from well water and industrial water, thereby making it usable in production processes requiring pure water. Because a quick recovery to peak filtration capacity is essential after water has been run through it for a specified period, Kumamoto TEC assessed filter clogging and made operational improvements that enabled it to reduce filtration frequency, a step that reduced the center's annual water consumption in fiscal year 2010 by 160,000 m3 and its annual discharge of wastewater to the sewer by 220,000 m3.

As part of its effort to conserve water, Kumamoto TEC works with local residents, an environmental NGO, agricultural organizations and agricultural cooperatives to promote groundwater recharge using nearby rice paddies.

At Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) in the United States, a pilot project to install waterless urinals at the company's offices and production studios was successfully completed in 2008. To date SPE has saved a total of approximately 240,000 m3 of water by using lower flow faucets and toilets, waterless urinals, and drought resistant plants. SPE continues to find ways to contribute in its own small way to efforts to ease the severe water shortages that frequently plague California, and plans further installations where possible.

At its new head office, Sony Electronics Inc. in San Diego has installed water-saving toilets and dishwashers; reuses wastewater from air-conditioning systems in fountains; and has planted greenery to counter drought.