Packaging

Simpler, smarter packaging yields dividends to the environment, the community and the Company.

Good packaging does more than protect, identify and position our products. It’s also a source of opportunity. Reducing packaging waste saves money in materials, energy, transport and disposal – benefits that cascade through the entire value chain.

HARMAN uses lean manufacturing and Design for Environment methodologies to create lighter weight, more recyclable packaging and remove unnecessary materials.

Our Professional division has implemented several packaging initiatives across HARMAN U.S. distribution centers.

• Mandates for recycled packaging material where warranted, while still ensuring the protection and safe handling of our products
• Reduction of the size of many of our product overpacks, some as much as 25 percent
• Greater use of recycled cardboard along with recyclable foam and bubble air packaging instead of non-biodegradable packing peanuts

In our Lifestyle business, we have taken steps to ensure all consumer products adopt design and packaging that conform to our sustainable practices:

• Products carry the Green Dot logo indicating that HARMAN defrays some of the cost of recovery and recycling
• HARMAN products comply with the European Commission Directive for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
• The size of boxes and cases has been reduced for less paper waste and lighter shipping

Looking ahead, HARMAN is closely following the work of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which seeks to accelerate the shift to a circular economy. Circular economy thinking will challenge our design teams to move away from the current linear “cradle to grave” model to a circular "cradle to cradle" model, thus eliminating waste by design. For example, our packaging materials could be regenerated as part of a closed-loop system rather than being used once and then discarded. We will report our progress on this important initiative in subsequent reports.