Sonos has announced several significant sustainability and environmental targets, including greater device repairability.
The company’s Climate Action Plan and Product Sustainability Program are aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and net zero by 2040.
Given that “more than three quarters of Sonos’ carbon emissions can be attributable to the energy consumed during each product’s lifecycle,” the first major objective for Sonos devices will be an idle power usage of less than 2 watts.
” In fiscal year 2022, it will begin with its portable gadgets. The Sonos Roam already has a power-saving “sleep mode,” and the firm claims that “by FY23, all future Sonos products will have sleep mode.”
Sonos was chastised in late 2019 for an update scheme that unnecessarily bricked devices, effectively turning usable speaker hardware into e-waste. After a few months, it ceased doing so and now claims that its goods are “Design for Disassembly.” All new speakers and components will have features, such as fasteners instead of adhesives, that make them easier to repair, refurbish, and recycle starting in FY23, according to the company.
According to The Verge, Sonos has not stated whether replacement components or repair guides will be made publicly available to customers to make repairs easier.
However, by the end of FY23, “100% of new Sonos products will begin using post-consumer recycled plastic in favor of virgin polymers, and will also be 100% halogen-free,” according to Sonos. Meanwhile, Sonos packaging will be made entirely of environmentally produced paper by FY25.
The company also stated that it will spend the coming year figuring out how to make its manufacturing and distribution processes more ecologically friendly. “This includes working with major suppliers to reduce their respective climate footprints and, where possible, exploring the localization of repairs and refurbishment,” it says.
