Sony Green Management 2015

http://gizmodo.com/#!290292/sony-and-waste-management-launch-free-take-back-recycling-program

Introduction

Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation, and is the world's fifth largest media conglomerate in the world.[1] Well-known for their electronics, Sony manufacturers “audio, video, communications, and IT products for the global consumer and professional markets.”[2] In addition to being a multinational corporation and a successful enterprise, Sony is also engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Sony’s top management considers environmental preservation a “key long-term management challenge” for the company to take on.[3] To assess the challenge of environmental stewardship, and determine “targets and programs to measure and motivate change and innovation with the Sony Group,” the company developed ‘Green Management’.[4]

Green Management 2015

According to the Sony website, since the 1990s, the Sony Group has focused on a variety of environmental activities. These include developing environmentally conscious products, reducing the environmental impact of its sites and promoting product recycling. Since 1998, Sony has formulated uniform environmental mid-term targets that encompass its operations around the world, and has revised these targets every few years. At the end of fiscal 2009, Sony formulated Green Management 2015, a set of new mid-term targets that will serve as a yardstick for the environmental activities of Sony Group companies and divisions worldwide until fiscal 2015. Green Management 2015 will go into effect in fiscal 2011 and Sony will disclose its progress periodically.[5]

The specific four ‘key environmental perspectives’ that Sony will focus on for Green Management 2015 include: “climate change, resources, chemical substances and biodiversity.”[6] The goals set forth by Green Management are consistent with what Sony has determined is necessary to achieve, what it calls, “zero environmental footprint” by 2050.[7]

Sony has set these targets for 2015:

1.Research and Development

Targets
Climate Change	1.Develop technologies that reduce energy consumption of products and facilitate the use of renewable energy-e.g., technologies for managing the generation, storage and supply of energy-and thus improve energy self-sufficiency at the individual level 2.Develop information and communications technologies that support the sorts of lifestyles necessary for the realization of a low-carbon society
Resources	3.Develop and refine “3R” (Reduce,Reuse,Recycle) technologies that reduce the use of nonrenewable resources and water and the generation of waste throughout product life cycles
Chemical Substances	4.Develop technologies that reduce the use of chemical substances of very high concern (SVHCs) and facilitate the use of alternative substances

2.Product Planning and Design

Targets Overall 1.Continuously launch Environmental Flagship models and services in each business category Climate Change 2.Reduce annual per-product energy consumption by 30% from the fiscal 2008 level Resources 3.Reduce utilization ratio of virgin oil-based plastics in products by 5% from the fiscal 2008 level 4.Reduce mass per product by 10% from the fiscal 2008 level Chemical Substances 5.Eliminate Environment-related Substances to be Controlled1 which are of very high concern, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in certain specified applications

3.Procurement

Targets Climate Change 1.Establish a mechanism for determining suppliers' greenhouse gas emissions 2.Contribute to the development of a common industrywide reporting format Resources 3.Employ procurement practices that facilitate the achievement of targets at the “Product Planning and Design” and “Logistics” stages Chemical Substances 4.Employ procurement practices that facilitate the achievement of targets at the “Product Planning and Design” stage Biodiversity 5.Conduct biodiversity assessments at resource extraction and harvesting sites

4.Operations

Targets
Overall	1.Conduct environmental assessments (including biodiversity assessments)
Climate Change	2.Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an absolute value of 30% from the fiscal 2000 level
Resources	3.Achieve an absolute reduction in waste from sites of 50% from the fiscal 2000 level 4.Increase the waste recycling rate Groupwide to more than 99% 5.Achieve an absolute reduction in the total volume of water used of 30% from the fiscal 2000 level
Chemical Substances	6.Manage designated chemical substances (Class 1-4) in accordance with prescribed regulations Class 1: Prohibit use Class 2: Eliminate by specified date Class 3: Reduce amounts released and transferred >Reduce amounts of Class 3 designated substances, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into water and transferred as waste or into sewers by 14% from the fiscal 2008 level >Reduce emissions of VOCs into the atmosphere by 50% from the fiscal 2000 level Class 4: Comply with relevant laws and regulations and ensure adequate control over use
Biodiversity, Contribution to Local Communities, Others	7.Promote environmental contribution activities that respond to the needs of local communities

5.Logistics

Targets Climate Change 1.Reduce CO2 emissions from logistics by 14% from the fiscal 2008 level Resources 2.Reduce waste from packaging for incoming parts by 16% from the fiscal 2008 level

6.Take Back and Recycling

Goals

Respecting the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR), we will continue to promote the development and efficient operation of low-environmental-impact recycling systems suited to the needs of local communities. At the same time, we will actively advance the collection and recycling of end-of-life products. With the aim of reducing resource use, we will step up efforts to design products that are easy to recycle, as well as to promote the establishment of legislation that enshrines the concept of individual producer responsibility (IPR) and the building of an infrastructure for recycling Sony products.[8]

Conclusion

In the article ‘Sony on the Importance of Being Green’, Sony Europe's General Manager, Environmental Communications - Emily Young – says that Sony sees “‘green issues’ and sustainability as a critical part of our company ethos and activities. The main aim of our sustainability activities is to both minimize our impact on the environment (which includes tough targets to reduce waste and energy), as well as to demonstrate that technology can be an important part of the solution to climate change issues and how we, as a technology company, can help with finding solutions – thus having an overall net positive impact as a company.”[9] While it is clear that Sony has noble intentions and a history of environmental stewardship, only time will tell if they can truly reach a zero carbon company by 2050. It is still unclear what and if Japan will have lasting long-term effects from the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami. According to prime minister Naoto Kan, “Japan is facing its worst crisis in the 65 years since the war.”[10] Despite this many are already predicting the strong return of Japan and the potential economic revival that may take place in Japan when this is all over. Only time will tell.

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[1] http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/09q4_sony.pdf [2] Holliday, Charles O. Jr., Stephen Schmidheiny, Philip Watts. Walking the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development. UK: Greenleaf Publishing Limited, 2002. Print. Page 147. [3] Ibid. [4] Ibid. [5] http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/environment/management/gm2015/index.html [6] http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/environment/management/gm2015/index.html [7] Ibid. [8] http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/environment/management/gm2015/index.html [9] http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/green-technology/news-sony-importance-being-green [10] http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0314/1224292061563.html