Sonos Sets Longer Product Life, Lower Energy Use as Sustainability Goals

Sonos disclosed its first climate action plan Wednesday in its 2021 Listen Better report, commiting to driving its value chain to carbon neutrality by 2030 and to net zero by 2040. The company worked with VitalMetrics to map the footprint of its value chain -- including sourcing materials, packaging, product use and end of life -- to guide cuts in greenhouse gas emissions across products, supply chain, distribution and direct operations, it said.

The company is addressing e-waste by meeting "customers' expectations for quality while at the same time extending product longevity,” said CEO Patrick Spence. “When a product is eventually in need of repair or disposal, our emerging design for disassembly process seeks to enable refurbishment or recycling where possible. We also continue to improve software solutions that will keep older products in use for longer,” he said.

In FY 2021, ended Oct. 2, the company began a new design for disassembly process, which will be incorporated into all new speakers and components, starting in FY ’23, Sonos said. The approach builds in features such as fasteners instead of adhesives that make it easier to repair, refurbish and recycle, it said.

Sonos came under fire from longstanding customers in early 2020 when it announced that some legacy products would be sunsetted because they no longer had the memory or processing power to support software updates for new features (see 2001220057). Spence said then, “Ideally all our products would last forever, but for now we’re limited by the existing technology.”

At an investor conference in February 2020, Chief Financial Officer Brittany Bagley referenced a CE industry trend toward shorter product longevity, saying products including speakers, cameras, smartphones and laptops have a different “shelf life” than they used to (see 2002120047). The company keeps products “alive” for as long as it can, she said.

Sonos’ FY 2020 carbon footprint was 1.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent: 99.9% Scope 3 (indirect), 0.1% Scope 2 (associated with electricity, steam, heat or cooling) and near zero Scope 1 (sources owned or controlled by the company), the report said. Of Scope 3 emissions, product use is the most significant greenhouse gas contributor (75%), followed by product manufacturing in the supply chain (20%) and distribution (4%), it said.

Initial plans in 2022 to reduce emissions will focus on lowering product energy consumption, pursuing low carbon opportunities and partnering with suppliers on energy conservation, Sonos said, saying emissions reduction will be the company’s priority for mitigating its environmental impact. To meet carbon-neutral and net-zero goals, it will invest in offsets and carbon removal technology for emissions not mitigated through its reduction efforts, it said.

Product energy use is the most significant contributor to Sonos’ carbon footprint, pushing the company to focus on idle and sleep states to improve energy efficiency. It introduced sleep mode with the portable Roam speaker that launched this year. By 2023, all new Sonos products will include sleep mode as the company aspires to cut idle power consumption to less than 2 watts for its portfolio; the effort will begin with “all portable products” in FY ’22, it said.

Calling electronic waste one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world, Sonos said it's working toward a “circular future” where products can be recycled to make new Sonos products. By the end of FY ‘23, 100% of new Sonos products will begin using post-consumer recycled plastic instead of virgin plastics; they will also be 100% halogen-free, the company said.

Sonos began using Forest Stewardship Council-certified proprietary paper in the Roam and will continue using the material for new products launching in 2022-2025, the company said. By FY ’25, Sonos packaging will be made with 100% responsibly sourced paper that’s either recycled or sourced from plant-based fibers, it said. The speaker maker continues to reduce the use of plastics in packaging, using post-consumer resin plastics where necessary, it said.

The company's sustainability strategies include habitat regeneration and conservation, it said. For 2022, it partnered with SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf to offset its direct emissions with a marine ecosystem project in the Southern Cardamom Watershed in Cambodia.