If IT were a country, the IT industry would be the 3rd largest energy consumer on the planet.1
These days, sustainability is a key element of every aspect of a company’s activities, and IT is at the cutting edge of the way it impacts the modern business model.
Customers genuinely care about a business’s impact on the environment, whether you’re a start-up, a medium-sized concern, a large multi-site operation or a government body, the way you approach your eco-responsibilities is one of the defining factors of whether or not people want to do business with you. Research tells us that 87% of consumers will have a more positive image of a company that supports social or environmental issues and 88% will be more loyal to that company.2
So, as an eco-conscious IT buyer, what market trends should you be conscious of right now and what can your business be doing to help reduce its impact on the environment?
Ocean-bound plastics.
According to Conservation International, by 2050 the amount of plastic in our oceans will outweigh all the fish.3 Even more scary, most of it won’t decompose for over 400 years. If all that sounds like more of a red flag than a green one to you, you’ll be pleased to hear leading IT product suppliers, including HP and Dell, are already investing in ways to fight back by using upcycled ocean-bound plastics to create parts and components for laptops, monitors, ink cartridges and more. A quick search of a company’s website should tell you if a supplier is committed to reducing plastic waste and what products or services they offer that help reduce ocean-bound plastics.
Energy efficiency.
Research produced by the Shift Project in 2019 concluded that direct energy consumption by IT servers, terminals, networks and other information communication technology is increasing by 9% every year. Finding ways to reduce that energy consumption is a priority for the industry in general and is something we can all contribute to.
One simple way to help reduce your business’ energy consumption is to ensure the products you buy carry the EPEAT® ecolabel, a globally recognised standard that takes into consideration a wide variety of criteria including energy efficiency, construction materials, supply chain greenhouse gas emissions, recyclability and end-of-life management that help lower environmental impacts.
Most major IT manufacturers offer a range of products that are EPEAT® registered as Gold, Silver or Bronze based on their performance and the required and optional criteria they meet.
Sustainable packaging.
Everything comes with packaging, and IT producers and suppliers are as guilty as any other industry when it comes to overdelivering on single-use plastics and multi-material packaging.
But things are changing, and there is a worldwide megatrend towards finding alternatives like recycled carbon fibre, upcycled plastics, biodegradable and compostable materials, eco-friendly inks, re-usable paper and cardboard or natural substitutes including bamboo and even straw.
In Australia the 2025 National Packaging Targets outline a sustainable pathway for the way we manage packaging in Australia and require 100% of general packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 and 70% of plastic packaging to be recycled or composted by 2025.4
In addition to considering the way a product is packaged, another way your business can positively impact the environment is by having a clear plan for how you will dispose of the packaging once you’ve purchased the item. For example, if you are buying in bulk, there are specialist waste recycling companies that can help you dispose of the packaging more efficiently.
Creating a circular supply chain.
Supply chain management encompasses the entire production flow of a product or service from concept to final delivery to the end user, including sourcing raw materials and suppliers, product manufacturing, delivery and logistics, establishing a network or process to accept back defective or unwanted products and, increasingly, the collecting and recycling of packaging.
The latest trend is the adoption of what’s called a circular supply chain. Essentially this means tech hardware manufacturers boosting the circularity of their products by making them more repairable, re-usable or recyclable. For example, in September of last year global management consultants Bain & Company reported that HP is looking to make it easier to recapture materials from products at the end of their useful lives, Dell has set a goal of sourcing all of its packaging materials and more than half of its product materials from recycled or renewable materials by 2030, and Apple says that by 2030 every product it sells will have a net-zero carbon impact.
Sourcing products and services from local suppliers is one way you can reduce your environmental impact, but circularity still remains challenging in IT due to the fact that supply chains can span continents, carbon footprints are large and products are complex and often have short lives.
Sustainability planning and system design.
Every business can create the foundation for sustainable IT by assessing its environmental footprint and putting in place effective governance procedures to support that strategy.
Over half of the organisations surveyed by Capgemini in 2021/22 said they had a defined business-wide sustainability strategy, but only 18% confirmed they had a comprehensive sustainable IT strategy with well-defined goals and target timelines.1
Whatever the size of your business, this reinforces the importance of having a strategy that’s fully implemented, by embedding sustainability in your software architecture and system design and developing a sustainability culture amongst your employees.
Finding the ideal product or services vendor is a key part of delivering a sustainable IT solution for your business, but not everyone is as professional, knowledgeable and easy to work with as Area9. Talk to us to understand the sustainability features of the product you’re considering. We have a deep knowledge about the products we supply and can advise on their eco-impacts and how they can help integrate with your existing systems and sustainability goals
Talk sustainability with Area9 today.
Area9 is a trusted authority on all aspects of IT procurement and sustainability. Get in touch via sales@area9.com.au to learn more about sustainable hardware procurement with Area9.
- Capgemini Environmental Sustainability Performance Report 2021/2022.
- Cone Communications CSR Study 2017.
- World Economic Forum. (2016). The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics.
- Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. May 2022.