HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer, and enterprise markets, is sharing its latest consumer audio innovations during its HARMAN ExPLORE press event held today live from Amsterdam.
Ambitious objectives
HARMAN is reaffirming its commitment to a brighter, more sustainable future. Building on its existing social and environmental progress, HARMAN is expanding and accelerating its initiatives to meet the twin challenges of climate change and social inequality. HARMAN is committed to making positive change and has set a target to achieve carbon neutrality in 2040. This ambition is all the more relevant in light of the powerful connection between music and social change that HARMAN’s most recent consumer survey reveals: for 42 per cent of Americans, music inspires involvement in social movements, while 60 per cent believe that music has the power to help save the planet.
“Becoming more sustainable requires a multi-faceted approach that encompasses HARMAN’s internal and external practices, including everything from our hiring policy and company culture, to ensuring that our supply chain shares our values, to delivering products that not only provide value but do so in a way that respects the planet we all share,” said Dave Rogers, President of the Lifestyle division. “We at HARMAN are both proud of the road we have travelled and resolute in continuing to fulfil our commitments.”
Concrete initiatives
Over the past several years, HARMAN’s Lifestyle division has worked diligently to make the company’s environmental vision a reality: from design to production, packaging to power consumption, and lifecycle to supply chain. Sustainability has been integrated into a variety of JBL, Harman Kardon, and InfinityLab products.
With today’s new launches, JBL Go 3 Eco and JBL Clip 4 Eco, Harman Kardon Onyx 8, and Flip Essential 2, four products made from post-consumer recycled plastic will come to market by the end of the year. Furthermore, 34 new products will be launched in 2022 with fully sustainable packaging. The new JBL WAVE TWS headphones have a 56 per cent smaller shipping box than their predecessors, and PVC-free power cords will be used in Harman Kardon Onyx 8 in EMEA. HARMAN also recently launched InfinityLab, a new category of eco-friendly power accessories made from 90 per cent recycled plastic.
But that’s not all: HARMAN is also striving to increase product longevity by strengthening product robustness, enabling easy repair, and facilitating recycling. Additionally, most HARMAN portable speakers and headphones are now IPX 67 dust resistant and waterproof for increased durability. Fourteen products are expected to be certified this year under the EPA Energy Star label, which measures energy efficiency. And when it comes to packaging materials and sizes, HARMAN has already introduced recycled cardboard, banned the use of plastic, and switched to more environmentally friendly printing with soy ink, in addition to reducing packaging dimensions to optimise shipping and further shrink its carbon footprint.