How we've reduced our products' environmental impact:
Energy efficiency
Carbon footprint
Resource efficiency
Hazardous substances
Energy efficiency
Estimates based on EU/UK models and assuming >3 hours of active use per day.
CUH-10xx
CUH-11xx
CUH-12xx
CUH-20xx
CUH-21xx
CUH-22xx
151 – 160 kWh/yr
136– 144 kWh/yr
104 – 110 kWh/yr
89 – 95 kWh/yr
82 – 88 kWh/yr
81 – 85 kWh/yr
CUH-70xx
CUH-71xx
CUH-72xx
133 – 138 kWh/yr
131 – 136 kWh/yr
131 – 134 kWh/yr
CFI-1016A
CFI-1016B
134 – 135 kWh/yr
133 – 134 kWh/yr
*Based on gaming at HD resolution
**Based on gaming at UHD resolution
***Based on mix of gaming using 25% PS4 games (at UHD resolution) and 75% PS5 games (at UHD resolution)
How can I minimise my console energy use?
Enable automatic power down
If you want to set up your console to minimise energy use, ensure you have automatic power down enabled. This will ensure that the console shuts down after a period of inactivity. The default setting for automatic power down is four hours for media play; and 20 minutes (in Europe) or one hour (rest of the world) for all other modes. You can keep these settings or select a time that suits you.
For instructions on how to set up power management settings, see:
- PS4 and PS4 Pro: "Settings>Set Time Until PS4 Turns Off” within the PlayStation 4 manual.
- PS5: “Settings>Power Saving>Set Time Until PS5 Enters Rest Mode” within the PlayStation 5 manual.
Choose the Rest mode settings for you
There are different features available in Rest mode that can help you save energy depending on your preferences. Consider these questions to optimise your console:
For instructions on how to set features available in rest mode, see:
- PS4 and PS4 Pro: “Settings>Set Features Available in Rest Mode” within the PlayStation 4 manual.
- PS5: “Settings>Power Saving>Features Available in Rest Mode” within the PlayStation 5 manual.
Carbon footprint
What is the carbon impact of gaming?
The carbon footprint of gaming depends on many factors, including which country you live in and which model of console you have. Two of the most important factors are the size of the game and how long you play it in total (over its lifetime). We have analysed these different factors to identify the best ways to game in terms of carbon emissions per hour of gameplay.
Digital versus physical:
At present, we estimate downloading has the lowest carbon emissions compared to discs and streaming (at 0.05 kgCO2e on average per hour of gameplay using the latest PS4 system). This is relatively low compared to a typical gaming PC (estimated at around 0.09 kgCO2e/h).
In general, gaming is a low-carbon activity compared to other leisure activities, particularly those that involve using transport (such as going to the cinema, estimated at 2.4 kgCO2e/h) Druckman et al. (2012)*.
Length of playtime:
How long you play a game for in total (over its lifetime) has an impact on the carbon footprint. For example, on average we estimate streaming using PS Now has the lowest carbon emissions for up to four to five hours of total (lifetime) gameplay, when compared to downloading, or up 20 hours compared to a PlayStation disc.
Game file size:
Likewise — game file size is also important. For smaller games, up to 5 GB, we estimate that downloading has the lowest overall carbon emissions compared to streaming and discs.
For larger games, we estimate that streaming through PS Now has the lowest carbon emissions if playing for just a few hours overall, while downloading them has the lowest emissions if you want to play for longer*.
PS Now allows you to access hundreds of games quickly and can reduce the carbon footprint of using your console if you are streaming a game for a play time less than 4 to 5 hours compared to downloading and playing for a short time.
*Downloading games with a file size of over 10 GB has the lowest carbon emissions if played for over 3.5 hours overall. Discs and downloads have similar a carbon impact when played for over 200 hours total, for file sizes of 10 GB and over.
**Service availability may differ by region and country.
These estimates include the carbon emissions produced when playing your console, as well as in the manufacturing of consoles and discs, transportation to retailers, delivery or collection from the store, and in the treatment of the products at end of life (e.g. recycling or disposal).
They also include the carbon emissions produced from digital and network activities — from development of games and production of software, to Internet data transmission and the energy consumed by servers used to run PS Network and PS Now.
These estimates are based on a study using average European data, but are representative for cloud streaming in other regions where PS Now is currently available.
These estimates will likely change in the future as the performance and efficiency of computing and the Internet improves over time. For example, the energy used to transmit data through the Internet is estimated to have halved every two years since 2000 (Aslan, et al. 2018). In addition, PlayStation Now is still a relatively new service, and we will continue to review the carbon impact and efficiency of gaming.
*Scope of Druckman et al. (2012) study includes the carbon emissions intensity of transport and embedded emissions from entertainment and culture activities (such as going to the cinema or theatre) and outdoor sports.
What have we done to reduce the carbon impact of our products and services?
PS4
Since the launch of PS4 we have made substantial efforts to reduce the power consumption of our consoles by using energy efficient technologies such as:
- System-on-a-Chip (SoC): Combining multiple components, such as the central processor and the graphics processor on to one chip.
- Die shrink: Making the components inside a processor smaller and more efficient.
- Power scaling: Where the console's processor will efficiently increase or decrease its power consumption depending on the performance of the game or application.
- Efficient power supplies
- Energy saving rest modes such as Suspend, which allows the console to be powered down while a game or application is paused.
PS5
PS5 performance is around 100 times faster than PS4 (comparing the PS5 SSD read speed with the PS4 HDD), and as for previous generations this can drive up power consumption at launch, particularly for gaming.
To keep power consumption as low as possible and maximise efficiency, PS5 includes new energy efficient technology including efficient AMD Zen2 & RDNA2-based chip set, efficient power supply, and low power modes. Consequently, this is the first generation where power reductions compared to previous generation models have been achieved, particularly compared to PS4 Pro:
- To put PS5 power reductions in proper context: PS5 launch models consume substantially less in media and home screen modes than PS4 and PS4 Pro models did at launch.
- Because of the improvements to the energy efficiency of PS4 and PS4 Pro over time, PS5 average power consumption in home screen and during media play can be between around up to 20% lower than current PS4 Pro models, but about approximately 8-19% higher than current PS4 models due to its higher performance (depending on model).1
To provide an indication of power levels we’ve taken a number of European production model consoles directly from the warehouse for testing at the Sony Materials Science Lab, an accredited laboratory in Stuttgart, Germany. To ensure accuracy, we follow official standardised console power testing procedures approved by the European Commission. This took around 300 hours in total!2
Gaming power consumption is where the increased performance kicks in. Game power varies significantly depending on the console, the region it is played in, and even between different gaming sessions. The power consumption of PS5 while gaming is highly variable, for example from below 100 W to around 200 W for the measurements shown below (with next generation PS5 games typically running at the higher end of this range. The increased efficiency PS5 is clear: in contrast PS4 games played on the PS5 can draw up to around a third less power than when played on PS4 Pro.
1Based on 5 EU SKU PS5 disc edition samples (CFI-1016A: BD 2K; 5 EU SKU PS5 digital edition samples (CFI-1016B: home screen 2K & 4K)
2https://www.playstation.com/legal/ecodesign/
Rest mode is specifically designed to minimise overall PS5 energy use; it is enabled by default along with auto-power down and allows the console to continue providing functions at low power rather needing to be left fully powered on. PS5 power consumption has been substantially reduced for rest modes compared to both PS4 & PS4 Pro – this is a critical improvement considering the many hours when the console is powered down and not in use.
- PS5 consumes around 80% less power for suspend than PS4 and PS4 Pro models (at 0.5 W or less). If just one million users enable this feature, it would save the equivalent of the average annual electricity use of 1,000 US homes.
- PS5 consumes around 28-39% less for USB charging with internet connected (when idle) than current PS4 and PS4 Pro models.3
- "Suspend" is the default rest mode setting for EU, UK, Russian, Australia / New Zealand PS5 models and USB charging with internet connected for all other models (due to different legal requirements in different regions). These settings can also be configured as needed to optimise the functions available and PS5 power consumption.
For further information on console power consumption please refer to the charts above, and data included on https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/legal/ecodesign/.
Remarkably, despite PS5's exponential performance increase, we estimated that it may use 11-17% less energy than for the launch model of PS4 in 2013 (console energy efficiency then usually increases over the lifetime of each console). See the “Energy Efficiency” section above for more information.
In terms of carbon emissions: PS4 and PS5 would have certainly used a lot more power if these energy efficiency improvements had not have been made. As of the end of 2020, carbon emissions we have avoided to date for PS4 are already estimated amount to around 19 million metric tonnes, increasing to 30 million metric tonnes by 2030* (which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions of Denmark in 2017). In addition, we estimate around 32,300 and 39,000 t CO2 equivalent avoided every year for every million PS5 consoles sold.
*Around 1.8 MtCO2e of this is due to compliance with standby and networked standby requirements within the European Union standby directive (EC 1275/2008 as amended by EU 801/2013) within EU countries.
A number of energy efficiency measures are also used in our cloud gaming servers to reduce energy consumption, these include:
- Efficient power supplies
- Efficient shared & managed cooling
- Efficient idle power states
- Server power management
Resource efficiency
Materials use:
- During the lifetime of PS4, we have reduced its volume by over 30%, along with a reduction in the ‘die-size’ of its chipset. As well as using less materials, a smaller console size also makes it more efficient to transport them, which further reduces our overall carbon footprint.
- PS5 is notably larger than PS4, but we have implemented various improvements including a large cooling fan and an upgraded heatsink to make PS5's enclosure as small as possible.
- We have started a trial using up to 10% recycled post-industrial waste PP plastics in our game boxes produced for European Markets
Recyclability
To enhance recyclability of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles, we ensure that:
- Cover parts and body frames consist of recyclable PC ABS, ABS and Polycarbonate (PC) plastic components.
- Plastic parts within our consoles weighing more than 100g can be removed using tools that are commercially available to recyclers.
- Wherever feasible*, we label plastic components weighing more than 20g with their material composition so that different plastics can be easily identified during recycling. We label plastic components weighing more than 20g with 0.1% or more (by mass) of flame-retardant content.
- We ensure halogenated flame-retardant content in external plastic enclosure parts >25 g is less than 0.1% (by mass).
- The part has less than 1 cm² level surface available for marking
- The performance or function of a part is compromised e.g. buttons with tactile surface, plastic lenses, or display screens
- External transparent parts
- Marking is not technically possible due to the specific production method of the plastics used in the part, e.g. extrusion moulding
Repair and disposal
We provide warranty and out-of-warranty repair service for our consoles. In order to deliver this service, we provide technical documents to authorised repair centres and make sure that spare parts are made available to them. The key components of our consoles are also designed to be disassembled in a non-destructive way.
Our packaging
We constantly review our packaging to ensure we use the minimum amount of materials required to safely deliver products to customers.
PlayStation®4 packaging achievements:
- In 2018, we reduced the cardboard packaging (the fitment, box and slipcase) of the PS4 CUH-20xx chassis by 13%, compared to the PS4 CUH-12xx chassis, alongside reducing the weight of the plastic tray in the Gold Stereo headset package by around 44%.
- To increase the recyclability of our packaging, we use carton-based packaging for PlayStation 4, not EPS (polystyrene).
- Within our North and South American and European regions, where recycled materials are available, around 70%of the PET packaging used for DUALSHOCK®4 is made from recycled post consumer waste.
*Model availability may differ by region and country
PlayStation®5 packaging achievements:
For the launch of PlayStation®5 we implemented new resource efficient packaging guidelines, and developed new global 93-99% plastic free packaging designs (per unit and by weight, depending on the product):
- Pulp cushion trays used instead of expanded polystyrene or plastic trays
- Plastic cable ties replaced with paper cable ties
- Plastic protection bags used for cables and instruction manuals eliminated where feasible
- Plastic display windows substituted for closed card boxes for PS5 accessories
- Hanger tabs are folded into rather than glued outer packaging
- Use of oxo-degradable plastics avoided
Hazardous substances
Sony aims to phase out the use of "environmentally controlled substances" in its products. We maintain a list of restricted substances in line with our own global standards for managing the environmental and health risks of chemicals within our operations and supply chains.
All batteries and screens used in our products (such as DUALSHOCK 4 and PlayStation®VR) are mercury free. Mercury is often used in batteries and screens, however, incorrect disposal can cause environmental pollution.
We do not use chlorine- or bromine-based flame retardants in our external plastic casing. In addition, we make information available on removal of key components for reuse, recycling and treatment at end of life.
Product recycling
Europe
We have helped establish several recycling schemes (supporting WEEE, battery and packaging compliance) across Europe to ensure our products, batteries and packaging are collected, recycled and treated at end of life. Every year we spend in the region of €1.5 million to finance these operations.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment:
Sony Interactive Entertainment complies with the EU WEEE Directive 92012/19/EU on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). Products are marked as per Annex IX and in accordance with the guidance in European Standard EN 50419 as shown below:
This label indicates that this product should not be disposed of with household waste. It should be deposited at an appropriate facility to enable recovery and recycling.
Batteries:
Batteries used in PlayStation products comply with the EU Battery Directive 2006/66/EC.
Packaging:
Like WEEE and batteries, we have joined a packaging compliance scheme in each country where we are obligated as a producer. Through these compliance schemes, we fund the activities of waste collectors and recycling operators to ensure that, wherever possible, packaging from our products is reused, recovered or recycled free of charge to all consumers.
North America
In the United States, our Take Back Recycling Program offers nationwide responsible recycling of our products and packaging. Through partnerships with certified recyclers, unwanted electronics can be disassembled into reusable materials and offset the need for future mining.
Certification programs also provide assurance that worker safety and protection of local communities are of highest priority during the recycling process. For more information, see sony.com/ecotrade.
Across the rest of the world, we comply with all local legislative requirements for WEEE, batteries and packaging disposal in all locations where our products are sold.
