Bang & Olufsen x Sustainability
Sustainability
At B&O, our sustainability ambition is to lead and inspire a movement towards a circular, regenerative future by creating long-lasting luxury technology products and experiences – from the first customer to the last. This is an integral part of our corporate strategy and why we report on our sustainability framework, targets, and activities as part of our Annual Reporting.
Longevity is at the heart of what we do.
Long and multiple lives for our products. That is what we call longevity, and it is our approach to a circular economy, climate action, and good corporate citizenship. Our aim is to build product icons that can last a lifetime and beyond and we have three main areas where we will work to deliver on our longevity promise.
1. Designing for the future
We want to lead the industry by creating long-lasting, circular, and sustainable products. 2. Taking responsibility for the past
We want to challenge the view of what ‘new’ really is and the notion that a ‘second life’ is perceived as less attractive than a new, unused product.
3. Ensuring continued and multiple lives through repair and service care
We want to challenge the view that a high-quality product necessarily has an end-date.
Cradle-to-cradle certified products are key to our circular economy aspirations
Our cradle-to-cradle certified® Beosound Level speaker is an example of our longevity approach, where we were able to extend the lifetime substantially beyond industry standards. The speaker is designed with a modular approach, making it easy to maintain, service and repair. For example, customers can replace the batteries themselves, and customize the speaker covers with new materials and colourways. In addition, the speaker can have new features via software updates and the streaming module itself can be replaced if the technology in it becomes outdated. Once the speaker reaches its end-of-useful-life point, after many years of service, Beosound Level allows a resource efficient circulation process because it is easy to disassemble, and we have used high-quality materials which can be reused or recycled.
Social Responsibility
We embrace our role as a leader and corporate citizen in our local communities and we recognize that when they thrive, we thrive. As a result, we engage with our local communities in several ways. Our commitment to the promotion of STEM education through collaboration with leading technical universities in the field has been ongoing for more than 50 years and we have extended this remit to include sustainability, circularity, and longevity as important topics for education.
Transparency on impacts and activities
We have set three climate action targets for the short and long term, in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) framework for corporate climate action. After a rigorous validation process, we received validation of our targets in 2023/24 from the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Our ambitions are aligned with keeping global temperature rise to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels, as required by the latest climate science. In 2024/25, we will focus on building a governance structure to secure the rollout of our value-chain decarbonisation programme.
Bang & Olufsen’s core values:
Contact
Nicolai Ellehuus, Head of Corporate Responsibility +45 2072 1798 sustainability@bang-olufsen.dk