Packaging for the planet
Sony's Original Blended Material
Packaging made from 100% paper materials
Helping the earth stay beautiful for the future
Sony Group is involved in a variety of environmental conservation activities, one of them being using paper-based product packaging instead of relying only on plastics packaging.
What is Sony's "Original Blended Material"?
“Original Blended Material” is a durable paper material developed by Sony. It is suitable for a diverse range of packaging and has less of an impact on the environment than virgin plastics.
The birth of ”Original Blended Material"
Made from sustainable materials
Harvested from a short growth plant for lower environmental impact compared to plastics
While most paper products come from mature perennial trees, our blended packaging uses plants with a short growth cycle like bamboo and sugarcane. Production from plants with a short growth cycle generates less CO2 as they can be grown, sorted, and harvested as needed, compared to the logging and life-cycle care for perennials.
1. Perennial plant 2. Plant with a short growth cycle 3. Sapling 4. Growing tree 5. Lopping 6. Sorting ＆ harvesting 7. CO2 absorption period
Sustainability through green materials
Developing versatile and sustainable packaging
Sony’s products come in a variety of differently-shaped packages.
The same materials were used to make prototypes that could be changed into a variety of shapes by repeatedly adjusting the formula.
Creating awareness through our packaging
Reduction of cushioning and packing materials
The use of tactile, high quality materials – created with the environment in mind – contributes both to our own sustainability goals and also, we believe, triggers greater environmental awareness in our users.
With the whole package in mind
Outer box, inner box, sleeves, cushions...everything is 100% Sony‘s “Original Blended Material”.
It is a versatile material that can be molded and used for a variety of purposes.
Reduced ink use
Words and text can be reproduced through embossing, without the use of ink.
No unnecessary colouring
The final product is uncoloured to retain an appealing organic look, in addition to offering safer handling and lower resource use.
Created with recycling in mind
Packages made of Blended Materials can be collected alongside other paper materials, without the need for additional sorting, making recycling into new paper easy.
1. Recycled into new paper 2. Manufactured 3. Purchased 4. Collected as material 5. Processed as waste
Aiming Towards Sustainable Packaging
The Present and Future of Packaging
Kenichi Hirose
Designer
Creative Center
Sony Group Corporation
The purpose of using this material is to 'communicate' to customers to make them more aware of the environment. 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. 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.
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