5 Tech Companies with Brilliant Sustainability Initiatives in 2020
2020 was the year that brought widespread climate change calamities in the form of wildfires, storms, cyclones, and locust swarms, to name a few. Let’s not forget the rising pollution levels and erratic weather patterns.
Sustainability is the need of the hour, and I think that the AI and tech industries are best equipped to lead the way. After all, they have the resources, talent, and power to influence some significant changes in how we do things. While tech and capitalism themselves are notorious for being part of the problem, many companies have found ways to propose solutions. Here are five that especially caught my attention and got my hopes up.
1. Fairphone
I’m guessing you’ve probably never heard of this one because even I hadn’t until recently. That’s precisely why I’m writing about it! More people need to know what Fairphone is attempting.
What is Fairphone doing?
Fairphone is a revolutionary company that’s all about responsible material sourcing, advocating for workers’ welfare, and overall fairer, cleaner, greener smartphone manufacturing practices.
Its phone is designed and built in a modular way that makes it easy to repair, extend its lifespan, and replace components. Further, materials are sourced sustainably and transparently. For instance, it’s the first phone company to use Fairtrade-certified gold.
Fairphone is also B-corp certified and is the only smartphone manufacturer with a gold medal from EcoVadis.
The challenges
The Fairphone is also the only smartphone in the world to be awarded a perfect iFixit score for making repairable products that contribute to a circular economy. However, for this to create some lasting impact, consumer behavior would need to change, which is asking for a lot.
Moreover, Fairphone is unlikely to compete against leading smartphones because of the limitations of its features. For instance, the Fairphone 3 costs $500 but has a small screen, insufficient memory capacity, limited chipset, and just a single camera.
Nonetheless, it is commendable how this social enterprise is striving to make a change. With the right marketing, it may achieve success and reach a broader user base, convincing more people to opt for sustainable smartphones.
Well, if you thought electronics were inherently unsustainable and damaging to the environment, think again!
2. Apple
The world’s leading tech company has made sustainability a priority and pledged to become fully carbon-neutral over the next decade. At its Hi, Speed event in October 2020, Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, announced that the tech giant’s offices, stores, and data centers run on renewable energy.
What is Apple doing?
It aims to make every device fully carbon neutral, right from materials sourcing to manufacturing, transport, charging, customer usage, recycling, and material recovery.
Then, of course, there was the highly controversial move of removing the charger from the iPhone box. It was met with widespread ridicule and scorn but has also inspired competitors to follow suit.
Perhaps, this is a welcome change both from the viewpoint of fewer chargers being manufactured and boxes being lighter and smaller to reduce the resources used in transportation and storage.
The right focus
According to Apple, using low-carbon materials and processes is the way forward to reduce the Apple products’ footprint. Further, the tech behemoth is focusing on materials recovery through an enhanced trade-in program that allows users to return older devices when buying new ones. Robots are used to help extract useful materials from old devices to give them a second life.
Finally, Apple is also investing in natural resources like forests, wetlands, and grasslands to offset carbon emissions.
It has partnered with Conservation International to create a first-of-its-kind fund to protect natural areas. It is currently working to restore and protect a 27,000-acre mangrove forest on the Columbian coast and the degraded savannas of the Chyulu Hills in Kenya.
Inspiring, isn’t it!
3. Microsoft
Similar to Apple, Microsoft aims to be carbon negative by 2030. It goes a step beyond being carbon neutral. This means that the company will remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases each year.
Moreover, by 2050, Microsoft will remove all the carbon it has emitted directly or via electrical consumption since its founding in 1975.
What is Microsoft doing?
Those are pretty lofty ambitions, but the company has kickstarted progress by founding a new coalition called Transform to Net-Zero. This will bring together industry leaders to help businesses achieve an equitable and just transition to net-zero emissions: by 2050.
Further, Microsoft is the only cloud provider to give customers full transparency about their total carbon emissions from cloud usage through the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator.
The tech leader also charges an internal carbon fee of $15 per metric ton of carbon emissions to encourage its departments to be as sustainable as possible.
The path forward
The money then goes toward eco-friendly initiatives aimed at offsetting emissions. There is also a focus on the ethical sourcing of materials and recycling or reusing as much as possible.
Another bold climate commitment from Microsoft is to replenish more water than it consumes and protect more land than it uses by 2025.
Further, the company has pledged to lend its computing power to counter the loss of biodiversity and advocate for public policies that focus on better managing ecosystems.
4. HP
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Hewlett-Packard is probably printers and paper, and those spell the very opposite of sustainability. Yet, this innovative tech leader has found a way to forge its own sustainability initiatives.
What is HP doing?
It achieved its goal of 100% zero-deforestation with its HP-branded paper and is on track to achieve zero deforestation of its paper-based packaging for a forest-positive future.
Further, it has reduced its carbon footprint by one-third and ensured that 30% of plastic in its printers is repurposed. At the Consumer Electronics Show 2020, HP’s latest products included the first notebook and recycled laptop sleeve made with ocean-bound plastics.
Innovative possibilities
HP is currently working toward incorporating more recycled plastics into its consumer electronics by 2025. At the same time, it is investing in expanding its ocean-bound plastic supply chain.
Finally, among other things, the company has also introduced an energy-efficient HPLaserJet A4 printer and EcoSmart black toner with lower melt temperatures that result in lower energy consumption.
5. Logitech
Logitech is perhaps not the kind of company that immediately comes to mind when thinking about significant sustainability initiatives or innovations, but it has taken commendable strides forward.
What is Logitech doing?
In 2020, it announced support for the Paris Agreement, pledging to reduce its corporate carbon footprint per the ambitious goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. It aims to be powered exclusively by renewable electricity by 2030. Moreover, it has already neutralized the carbon footprint of its gaming product portfolio.
Its efforts earned Logitech fifth spot out of 145 tech companies for sustainability performance by Sustainalytics. It is the first consumer electronics company to provide carbon footprint labels on all its product packaging.
Futuristic mindset
Our vision is a world where everything is labeled with its carbon impact (or neutrality), like calories on food labels. The company believes in equipping consumers with information to make purchase decisions based on not only features and price but also the environmental impact.
In its 2020 sustainability report, CEO Bracken Darrell shared:
“Logitech’s culture has long reflected its Swiss roots: humble, hard-working, and growth-minded. So, for over a decade, it has quietly worked to reduce its impact on the environment but is now ready to share its progress with the world and join hands for a better planet.”
Kudos to that!
Getting there together…
Climate change and environmental degradation are complicated issues with no simple solutions. Given the inequalities and socio-political differences, it’s challenging to implement initiatives that work justly for all.
Nonetheless, we’ve got to find a way to forge ahead if we want to save our planet and our futures from calamity. These five tech companies, along with many others, offer a ray of hope.
In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more companies and governments announced plans to reduce carbon emissions and protect natural systems. The only thing that remains to be seen is how the plans are implemented and followed by measurable action. That’s my hope for 2021 and beyond.
