Original Blended Material

Paper material developed by Sony

For the Environment and for the Future

Sony is involved in a variety of environmental conservation activities, one of them being using paper-based product packaging instead of relying only on plastic packaging for some products.

What is Original Blended Material?

Original Blended Material is a paper material, developed by Sony with environment in mind. It doesn’t rely on petroleum-derived plastics and can be formed to meet a wide variety of packaging needs.

The birth of Original Blended Material

Growing with the environment in mind

While most paper products come from mature perennial trees, plants with a long growth cycle need to be managed by humans for generations. Our Original Blended Materials use plants like bamboo and sugar cane that grow quickly. We’re also conscious of the impact from producers and growers, ensuring the environment is considered during growth and harvesting.

1. Perennial plant 2. Plant with a short growth cycle 3. Sapling 4. Growing tree 5. Lopping 6. Sorting & harvesting 7. CO2 absorption period

Procurement of Original Blended Materials
Developing versatile packaging

Sony manufactures a variety of products with different packaging shapes. Our commitment to sustainability has driven us to varied Original Blended Material formulas, creating freely moldable packaging to suit a wide range of products and purposes.

Creating awareness through our packaging

By using tactile, high quality materials – created with the environment in mind - we aim to raise an awareness of the environment for anyone who picks up the package.

With the whole package in mind

Original Blended Materials is a versatile material that can be molded and used for a variety of purposes including outer boxes, inner boxes, cushions, sleeves, product protection sheets, instruction manuals and more.

Sony logo embossed with paper material
Reduced ink use

Words and text can be reproduced through embossing, without the use of ink.

No unnecessary colouring

The final product is uncoloured for an appealing organic look.

Image of paper material
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

The Present and Future of Packaging
Portrait image of designer
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.