In honor of Earth Day 2023, rAVe [PUBS] has partnered with Commercial Integrator to explore sustainability in ProAV. We sat down with Althea Ricketts, vice president of corporate initiatives at Shure, to discuss the company’s sustainability efforts in 2023.

LAVNCH [CODE]: Tell us why your company is passionate about sustainability.

ALTHEA RICKETTS: Sustainability is a very important to our customers, our associates, our partners, and the communities we are a part of. When S.N. Shure founded the company 98 years ago, he made being a good neighbor a priority. We continue his vision to this day by being the best neighbors we can be—and environmental responsibility is a significant part of that.

LAVNCH [CODE]: Can you give us an example of concrete efforts your company is making to be more sustainable?

AR: We’ve increased our sustainability efforts with our products, facilities, and packaging. In the past five years, Shure estimates that it has eliminated more than 20 million batteries from being used and disposed of because of its rechargeable technology. By 2027, Shure expects its products to prevent 100 million more batteries from going to landfills as more customers convert to rechargeable Shure products. New products will be packaged using 75 percent recyclable and/or renewable materials this year. In addition, the company is also improving packaging sustainability by committing to source a greater portion of our paper and fiber-based packaging from suppliers that are certified by sustainable forestry organizations, with the intention to eliminate non-certified packaging by 2030.

The company has also engineered its products to help customer reduce their overall power consumption, using less energy in “down” modes and allowing remote monitoring of power use with Wireless Workbench Software. Keep in mind that our products have long durability—both with technology and lifecycle—so there is less e-waste generated by having to update new microphones and equipment every few years (like computers and cell phones).

LAVNCH [CODE]: What sustainability efforts are you planning to implement in the next year?

AR: By 2027, we expect more than 100 million batteries will have been saved from landfills. The number is based on calculations from data from customers worldwide in music production, theater, touring, education, business, government, houses of worship, and more. With previous technology, disposable batteries were used to power microphones and transmitter packs. And audio engineers would frequently replace batteries—even when those batteries still had power—to ensure an uninterrupted performance with fresh batteries. However, new innovation from Shure has converted those products to rechargeable options, creating significantly less waste.

In fact, for David’s Byrne’s America Utopia Broadway show, the monitor engineer estimated they saved 21,000 AA batteries from being disposed of in landfills because they used Shure’s rechargeable system over the course of the run. With Shure’s rechargeable wireless audio technology—the first company to offer intelligent lithium-ion batteries for wireless microphones when it was launched nearly a decade ago—it has instantly transformed sound production into a much more environmentally friendly operation. And more concert halls, arenas, theaters, meeting rooms, schools, and others are rapidly adopting the rechargeable technology. We’re doing more to educate them so that there is less reliance on disposable batteries. We are also focusing on continuous improvements in sustainable activities with packaging, facilities, people, and other partners.

LAVNCH [CODE]: Can you give a long-term overview of your sustainability plan?

AR: We are focused on increasing sustainability initiatives across our products (packaging, technology), with facilities (energy-efficiency, recycling), our people (green education, volunteering), and our partners (certifications). We’re making public commitments and we are delivering on them.

LAVNCH [CODE]: Anything else you’d like to add?

AR: We may not be the loudest players in this area — we are a pretty modest company — but we have a robust set of sustainability initiatives that should make any of our customers proud. We’ll continue to update our progress on our sustainability efforts at Shure.com. We have a dedicated page on sustainability, including links to our certifications and examples of our efforts.

This sponsored content was created as part of a paid partnership with Shure. The contents of this article are entirely independent and solely reflect the opinion of Shure. In lieu of payment to rAVe or Commercial Integrator, Shure made a $2,000 donation to SAVe.