The importance of knowing your vendor’s sustainability goals
Thriving under the modern microscope
Thriving under the modern microscope
This is because many aspects contribute to your carbon footprint - from manufacturing, beyond disposal through ultimately to what happens to it when it leaves you.
Many businesses are shocked to realise how high the carbon emissions and energy output are during the manufacturing process – with vendors currently sitting under the spotlight as calls for greater transparency around sustainability and the manufacturing process grow.
In this piece, we’re shining our own spotlight on six vendors and their inhouse greener goals – so that you as resellers, and your clients, can identify the best vendors and therefore the best products that fit with your values and ESG sustainability goals.
Sustainability is not just about recycling, and it is not merely a means through which companies offset their carbon emissions by supporting charities and funding environmental initiatives. A truly sustainable strategy focuses on a carbon net zero goal, with the business working to reduce its carbon footprint by minimising the energy output and material usage during manufacturing, integrating green management systems into the operational use of devices, and enabling technology to be reused and recycled to expand its lifespan and prevent it from being taken to landfill.
When it comes to technology vendors in particular, businesses and IT reseller should be paying attention to the way that they fuel their production process and operations, the impact that the materials for products and packaging have on the environment, and the changes they make to allow more of each product to be recycled.
Without further ado, here are six of the best and most committed brands – and a look at how they are embracing sustainability for the benefit of their customers and users.
Recognising their position as one of the leading IT vendors in the market, Lenovo is committed to leading by example and does so in both the daily operations of the company and the way they share their sustainability goals and triumphs with customers and stakeholders. As part of Lenovo’s sustainability promise, they look not only to the environment but also to the issues of social responsibility which they hold and prioritise as a large organisation – with their 2021/22 sustainability report outlining the following:
“Lenovo is working both internally and externally to minimise and mitigate climate risks. It is committed to reducing the global carbon footprint of its business activities and has demonstrated its commitment by:
Having appointed a Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, Lenovo is a vendor that demonstrates the importance and value of strong leadership in reaching their goals to decrease carbon emissions and manage ESG performance.
A major organisation in the world of both IT hardware and software, Microsoft has two branches of business that it is working to bring in line with its sustainability goals – one of the biggest of which is to run at least 70% of all data centres on renewable energy by 2023. In addition, Microsoft is working with the long term goals of becoming carbon negative by 2030 and offsetting all their historical emissions by 2050 through encouraging sustainability across every area of the business. The organisation even has a $15 penalty for every metric ton of carbon which is produced by their internal terms – creating an incentive to work as “green” as possible.
In terms of its work for clients and customers and how they work as a sustainable vendor, Microsoft is dedicated to sourcing responsible materials that can be reused and recycled and boasts a carbon emissions tracker for everyday users on their website – bringing the issues of carbon emissions to your doorstep.
A major player in the IT market, Apple is one of the most innovative vendors of the 21st century – with this accolade following it into the sustainability market thanks to the brand’s renewable operations and minimal environmental impact. To look at where Apple is already, it would be more than fair to say that while an unarguably expensive vendor to work with in connecting your business to hardware and software, Apple sits up there as one of the greenest vendors on the market.
In fact, over the last few years Apple and its material suppliers have worked and managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 466,000 metric tons – the equivalent of removing 100,000 cars from the roads for a whole year. To look at just a few stats and facts:
The brand and business is already carbon neutral, with the aim for all products to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Jabra is committed to five of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the UN, in an effort to not only offset and improve their own carbon emissions and sustainability rating, but to secure the loyalty of customers who are becoming increasingly concerned with climate change and our environment.
These goals are:
Manufacturing and production has come under significant pressure under Jabra’s commitment to these goals, with the company working across the supply chain to source responsible materials and increase the efficiency and lifespan of products.
Already a major company in the home and business technology market, LG is working to improve its energy efficiency and sustainably responsibility, by thriving within the changing marketplace and placing greater emphasis on each product’s lifespan and value chain. With specific goals which frame the brand’s focus on two areas of sustainability – one looking at environmental impact and the other focussing on inclusion and diversity – LG has united its environmental focus with its social responsibility.
To look specifically at the environmental goals and changes within the organisation, LG is looking to increase its usage of renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions. This includes improving the production process to achieve lower carbon emissions and expanding the installation of solar power to create renewable energy sources for future manufacturing and production.
Circular Computing is committed to giving IT resellers the hardware that their clients are demanding in the modern market – with laptops from some of the biggest brands in the world of IT and technology which have been recycled, remanufactured, and refurbished for continued use on the market.
Encapsulating the very concept of recycling as part of any businesses commitment to becoming more sustainable, Circular Computing is a vendor that combines attractive price points with recycled devices and hardware. Arguably one of the best vendors on our list in terms of the way they help businesses to streamline their own sustainability goals, by repurposing and selling preloved devices, partnering with Circular Computing or a likeminded vendor is a great way to always make sure that the hardware that you sell or purchase is helping to offset the carbon emissions from its original production.
All of these IT vendors and organisations are committed to the process of becoming more sustainable, both in their environmental impact and through the recognition of sustainability as part of their social and economic goals.
Helping businesses and IT resellers to operate under full transparency, here at Quantum IT Distribution we offer advice and the finest hardware from all of these vendors and more – matching you with the tools your business needs to grow and thrive under the modern microscope.
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