From The Verge: Sonos announced plans today to make its speakers and other products last longer and use less energy. It’s part of the company’s larger plan to make itself more sustainable, with a focus on minimizing e-waste and the pollution that drives climate change.
A big part of Sonos’ new plans is to extend product lifespans by making its devices easier to repair and recycle. This year, the company started a “Design for Disassembly” program that it wants to guide the development of all of its new speakers starting in 2023. That includes changes like swapping out adhesives for fasteners, which can make it easier for consumers to take apart Sonos products for repair.
There isn’t much information out on this program yet, however. When asked, Sonos did not tell The Verge whether it will also make replacement parts and repair manuals available — details that will determine how repairable its products are in practice. But the program is intended to “make it easier to repair, refurbish and, eventually, recycle future Sonos products,” Deji Olukotun, Sonos director of policy and corporate social responsibility, told The Verge in an email.
The company also plans to start using post-consumer recycled plastic in all of its products by the end of 2023. This might prevent some plastics from winding up in landfills, oceans, or animals’ bellies — but recycling overall has been a pretty paltry solution for the world’s plastic pollution problem. Plastic degrades each time it’s re-hashed, which is why most tech companies have to mix recycled plastics with virgin plastics to make new products. That has some experts worried that a hot market for recycled plastics could actually lead to more demand for new plastics as well.
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