Sustainability

CarbonFootprint_topimage

Carbon footprint

Approach

We have implemented a life cycle approach to product development that takes into account materials, design, supply chain, manufacturing, logistics, product use and end of life treatment of all our products.

Since the establishment of the company, we have focused on the following areas based on the studies inherited from our parent companies:

  • Substance control for substances with potential issues for recycling or landfills.
  • Reduction of the life cycle carbon footprint of our products.
  • Improvement of working conditions in the supply chain.

In spring 2008, we commissioned a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) carried out as a master’s thesis. The LCA includes the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing of components, inbound and outbound transportation, utilisation and end-of-life treatment for a mobile phone with a 3 year lifespan. The impact of our offices and travel were also included and split on an annual basis to be included as part of the overhead for phone production. The LCA showed that a W890 with an expected 3 year lifespan produces a total of 23.8 kg of CO2. This is equivalent to driving 150 km (95 miles) in a typical family car. The diagram shows you how the emissions are distributed among the life cycle subcategories.

The Master thesis resulted in a parameter model built on the results of the LCA. We use this model to evaluate our products’ carbon footprints and to identify improvement areas in the life cycle of the phones. For each phone, the impact from Sony Mobile’s own activities is up to 0.9 kg CO2 equivalents*/phone or 3.6% of the total impact. This is why we have focused much more attention on reducing the impact of our products than of our own activities. In addition to this, we report our internal impacts in line with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. This is a widely used international accounting tool used to quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions.

Since 2008, there have been a lot of changes in the mobile phone market and Sony Mobile is now focused on expanding its range of smartphone products. In general high-end phones, such as smartphones, produce more carbon in production than low-end phones. The new strategy is an added challenge for us to fulfil our goals, but we are committed to fulfilling them and are focusing our efforts to minimize the impact through life cycle analysis.

For some examples of what we are doing to reduce our own footprint, please visit Internal initiatives

*The effect of the various greenhouse gases is measured by converting them into so-called CO2 equivalents. One CO2 equivalent equals the effect of the emission of 1 kilogram of CO2.