Sustainability is Easier than You Think to Achieve
Sustainability is becoming more important for all businesses, not only because of environmental issues like climate change, pollution, and resource shortages, but also because of increasing pressure on companies – by customers, investors, and employees - to reduce their environmental impact.
When supply chain reliability drops, and inflation and economic uncertainty rises, companies tend to put the focus on reducing costs and production sizes, and not as much on sustainability. The good news is, because being sustainable and profitable are not mutually exclusive, organizations don’t have to choose between the two, and customers can benefit from lower costs achieved from deploying sustainable technology solutions.
Technology Products and the Environment
Information and communications technology (ICT) is expected to account for as much as 20% of the world’s overall electricity consumption by 2030. That’s up from less than 10% today. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics - areas that most companies will need to embrace to remain competitive – have tremendous processing demands and will likely account for much of this increase.
Here are some other environmental challenges that deserve equal consideration:
Use of hazardous substances used in the manufacturing of and directly applied to computing hardware
Over-packaging of technology products
Electronic waste
Includes metal, plastic, precious minerals and hazardous substances
57.4 million metric tons handled by landfills and incinerators in 2021 alone
Most waste is not recycled
Many items are not easily recyclable
The fact is, each stage in the lifecycle of a technology product, from raw material sourcing to waste disposal and end-of-life processes, has an impact on a variety of environmental issues, including pollution, resource shortages, and health.
Selecting Sustainable Solutions
By considering all aspects of sustainability, not only the energy consumption of technology as it impacts both cost savings and carbon emission reductions but also the broader lifecycle of technology, selecting sustainable solutions doesn’t have to be as challenging as it may seem.
Here are some areas to consider:
Find out if hazardous chemicals are used in production
Is the packaging eco-friendly
Can it be reconditioned or recycled?
Consider implementing a circularity approach to your sustainability strategy
When a product needs to be replaced, can it be returned to the supply chain either via refurbishing or dismantling?
Does the product comply with all globally recognized environmental directives and regulations?
Has the vendor demonstrated a concrete commitment to improving the sustainability of their products across the lifecycle over time?
This is particularly important as selecting the right vendor now can help spare the expense and disruption of having to change vendors later
The point is, since even the most innovative new tech products are being built with sustainability in mind, companies don’t have to decide between that and profitability. They can work to achieve both simultaneously, while making progress toward addressing environmental concerns like resource scarcity and climate change.
Story via Forbes
