World Environment Day: Top Tech Organizations Leading the Sustainability Charge
By Mary Ann Richardson
Originally published on ToolBox
The relevance of World Environment Day shouldn’t ideally be restricted to a single day. With global energy consumption anticipated to double in the next 30 years, the tech industry is being called upon to deliver sustainable solutions to reduce its carbon footprint. Here’s a rundown of the top eight IT companies based on their active campaigns and sustainability initiatives to make the world a better place.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day, first observed during the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden. The theme chosen for this year – Only One Earth – reinforces “the significance of living in harmony with nature and adopting greener lifestyles.” Furthermore, the idea emphasizes that transformational changes can be achieved through governmental measures and personal decisions.
The theme for this year highlights that achieving global sustainability requires a wide range of sustainable ideas, climate-friendly initiatives, and players, not the least of which are tech companies.
Although all industries contribute to reaching global sustainability goals, IT companies must offer products and services that allow sustainability efforts within the industry and across all sectors. Electronic gadgets are expected to account for 15% of global emissions by 2040, not to mention that the globe created 57.4 million tonnes of electronic garbage in 2021 alone. While other industrial sectors are focused on making their products and services more sustainable, tech firms are focusing on how to assist customers in using their products and services in ways that help the world achieve its sustainability goals.
Leading IT Companies Actively Pushing for Environmental Stewardship
Here are eight tech organizations (listed in alphabetical order) that are leading the charge toward worldwide sustainability – what they have done and what they plan to do.
HP
Over the following decade, HP aims to minimize its supply chain emissions, total worldwide operations emissions, and water use. HP is dedicated to employing recycled materials in new products and packaging and using fewer resources overall. Consequently, HP’s Original Ink cartridges made of recycled plastic “had a 33% lower carbon footprint and consumed up to 75% less water.” HP collaborates with firms like BMW and Nike to use 3-D printing technology to cut waste.
Future plans: By “creating a less materials-intensive system, optimizing paper use and printing, and striving for 100% renewable energy,” HP intends to reach carbon neutrality in its operations by 2025 and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. It intends to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Also, the plans include eliminating 75% of its single-use plastic packaging by 2025 compared to 2018 levels. It also intends to increase the number of recycled plastics in its printers and other equipment by 30% by 2025.
