Sustainable Procurement & CSR News - ICT Industry

Apple said Tuesday that it is urging suppliers to vastly reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the tech giant works to make its entire supply chain carbon neutral by 2030. 
The company is asking manufacturers to decarbonize Apple-related operations by taking steps such as running on 100% renewable electricity. Apple will track progress through yearly audits.
As part of the company’s overarching sustainability goals, Apple also announced plans to construct large-scale solar and wind projects in Europe with projects ranging between 30 and 300 megawatts. The goal of the projects is to produce enough renewable energy to power all devices on the continent with low-carbon electricity.

Circular from the start
Startups have the opportunity to build businesses based around the circular economy from the start of their lifecycle. 

“Startups have the ability to build their businesses from scratch, truly disrupt the status quo and educate both consumers and businesses, in the process”

“Startups play a crucial role in helping the economy transition to the circular economy, because they don’t have the red tape or consumer expectations big tech does,” says Thibaud Hug De Larauze, cofounder and CEO of scaleup Back Market. “They have the ability to build their businesses from scratch, truly disrupt the status quo, and educate both consumers and businesses in the process.”

Back Market, founded in 2014, says it’s now the globe’s biggest online marketplace for refurbished devices and appliances, with over 6m users and over €1bn raised. 

According to figures cited by De Larauze, as much as 70% of existing toxic waste is due to disposed electronics, while only 12.5% is recycled. 

De Larauze says big tech is always looking for the new — offering expensive products that they want consumers to purchase on a yearly, or biennial basis. That creates two problems for customers: affordability and impact on the environment. 

“Refurbished technology can solve both of these problems. Not only are renewed devices much more affordable, they are key to creating a circular economy and drastically reducing the impact of technology on the environment,” says De Laurauze. 

This impact of technology and electronic devices can also be mitigated by renting equipment rather than purchasing it. This is particularly useful for smaller businesses and startups that may not know what equipment they need as they begin their journey. 

The last few years have seen multiple disruptions in the supply chain in many industries. One of the key technologies that many fingers have pointed to is the semiconductor technology.  As products in all industries become more electronics based, semiconductors play a key role since no end system could function today without these chips. Additionally, few, if any, complex chips are available from multiple suppliers, thus creating strong dependencies on a single source of supply. Any disruption in the chip manufacturing process, from fabrication lines to packaging to testing to shipping can impact product delivery.

Externally influenced supply chain disruptions resulting from geopolitical issues, a pandemic, labor difficulties, and unbridled fluctuations in demand make it difficult to bring products to market on time and within budget. However, as Stephen Chavez of Siemens Digital Industries Software explains, businesses can manage risk and plan for a more resilient future by applying a three-phased solution to enable supply-chain resilience for electronic systems design (see the figure). The key focus of this solution is digital transformation, implementing a “shift-left” or “outside-in” approach to a workflow that is inherently siloed, disconnected, and inefficient.

Sony has announced that it is accelerating its goal of achieving carbon neutrality across all of its divisions by 10 years, from the initial goal of doing so by 2040 with a new target of 2030.

The company also plans to gain carbon neutrality across its entire value chain — every company it works with — by 2040, a reduction of time from its previous goal of 2050.

Sony says it has pursued environmental initiatives since the early 1990s, but in 2010 announced its “Road to Zero” long-term environmental plan to help realize a sustainable society by achieving a zero environmental footprint throughout the life cycle of Sony’s products and business activities by the year 2050.

Choose's patented tech can hold a variety of liquids and represents an alternative to plastic bottles. "There are more than 150 million tons of single-use plastics produced each year," said the printer and laptop maker, "and HP intends to disrupt this market with fiber-based, 100 per cent plastic-free packaging."

Coeus Consulting has announced findings from new research – ‘The critical role of technology leaders in delivering on sustainability targets’. The report found that 90% of IT leaders surveyed, recognise sustainability as a key IT objective within their organisation and 88% of organisations already have an IT sustainability strategy in place. 

The majority of respondents (85%) also agreed that their organisation needs to be doing more when it comes to IT sustainability. What’s more, 80% agreed that IT and sustainability are intrinsically linked and that IT has a large impact on sustainability at their organisation.

With the growing demand for renewable energy, large-scale battery storage will be needed to conserve the power for a stable supply. According to NikkeiAsia, Huawei will start selling the large-scale battery system for renewable energy storage in Japan in March 2022.

As per the information, Japan is moving away from fossil fuels and shifting to renewable energy. The nation aims to have renewables account for 36% to 38% of energy generation by 2030. The lack of additional capacity in its power grid makes facilities for temporary storage that much more important.

However, Huawei is already a supplier of the small household battery system in Japan. Now, the Chinese tech maker will purchase small battery packs from CATL and bundle them into shipping container-sized units that can each store 2,000 kilowatt-hours of energy — roughly 200 times as much as a standard home battery.

Also, the container capacity can be adjusted based on the buyer’s needs. To be mentioned, Huawei is stepping its feet in the renewable power storage system sector, which is also already occupied by Tesla. Since last year, Tesla has been selling its own large battery system in Japan.

Sustainable or green IT is not new. In fact, it has been a topic of discussion among IT leaders for decades. But the concept of sustainability in general, which the United Nations defines as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” is something people and organizations are prioritizing more than ever — and for good reason.

Concerns about the environment and climate change are front and center among world leaders, environmental advocacy groups, and society at large. Corporate executives and boards want their organizations to do their part — or at least be perceived as doing their part — to help.

The push for better environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives has taken a high priority at many organizations, and this encompasses more efficient uses of technology.

- To achieve net zero emissions by 2050; Joins RE100 initiative
- Energy- and resource-efficient products to empower consumers for sustainable living
- To invest in and develop innovative technologies for a better planet; Apply carbon capture and clean air technology

During the Samsung Unpacked event on Tuesday, Samsung announced it's going more green in its new Galaxy products with more recycled materials.

The company said 90% of Galaxy devices launched/launching this year include at least one component made of recycled material. The new Galaxy Z series announced during the event contain eco-conscious materials like repurposed fishing nets. The Galaxy Buds2 Pro are even more eco-friendly, as 90% of the plastic components are made with recycled materials.

There are two kinds of companies that talk about sustainability. One kind treats it as a marketing tool with little substance; the other treats it more like a religion. Dell’s initial effort was basically, “if you buy a product, we’ll plant a tree.” It sounds nice, but is also a clear indicator it’s just giving this important topic lip service. Since then, Dell has embraced its ESG commitment, funded it, and created showcases of its efforts — like Concept Luna, the sustainable design project that could redefine the technology market and make it far greener. 

The amount of electronics will increase and the use of raw materials in the sector is expected to double by 2050. The amount of electronic waste has also almost doubled over the past 16 years, and only 20 percent of this waste is collected efficiently. The EU therefore calls for more sustainable solutions from the electronics industry. VTT is developing them by combining printed electronics, bio-based materials and ecodesign thinking.

The environmental load of the electronics industry can be significantly reduced by moving from traditional manufacturing processes to printed electronics and from fossil-based materials to bio-based materials. By using printing processes, up to 90 percent of fossil materials can be replaced in some applications. At the same time, energy consumption may decrease to one fifth compared to traditional processes. Ecodesign, on the other hand, promotes the efficient use, recycling and recovery of valuable materials.

HP has announced the acquisition of packaging development company Choose Packaging for an undisclosed amount.

Choose, an Edinburgh-based company which has developed a commercially available zero-plastic paper bottle, will be integrated into HP’s Personalization & 3D Printing business. Through the Personalization & 3D Printing business unit, HP introduced its Molded Fiber Advanced Tooling technology in September 2020 as part of an effort to provide more sustainable moulded fibre packing designs for companies in the food service, consumer product, medical and industrial sectors.

As the company looks to expand its commitment to more sustainable packaging it has sought to acquire Choose. Choose has developed a technology that can produce paper-based packaging products that are made with natural and non-toxic materials. Already, Choose has secured work with Accolade Wines, who boast brands like Hardys, Banrock Station and Grant Burge; Henkel, a leading consumer and industrial goods company; and Malibu Rum, an international brand of Pernod Ricard.

Samsung's CES 2022 keynote on Tuesday was light on standalone products in favor of device concepts, customization and an even greater emphasis on sustainability than in years past. The company spent much of the event the evening before CES officially opened pitching itself as a more eco-friendly producer of consumer tech.