Google has announced a set of new goals with regards to sustainability that it hopes to achieve over the coming three years. By 2022, 100% of "Made by Google" products will include recycled materials with an emphasis on maximising the use of recycled materials where it can. By next year, the company said that 100% of its shipments to and from customers will be carbon neutral.
The new targets set by Google are not a first for the company. Back in 2016, it announced that it would source all its energy from renewable sources from 2017. While cutting down the emissions from its online services is very important, including more recycled materials in its hardware products will help consumers reduce their carbon footprints further.
Discussing some of the firm’s sustainability initiatives, Anna Meegan, Head of Sustainability, Consumer Hardware, said:
“These commitments will build on the foundation and progress we’ve already made. In 2018, we began publishing our product environmental reports, which help everyone understand exactly what our products are made of, how they’re built and how they get shipped to you. And from 2017 to 2018, our carbon emissions for product shipments decreased by 40 percent. we’ve also launched our Power Project, which will bring one million energy- and money-saving Nest thermostats to families in need by 2023, and built much of our Nest product portfolio with post-consumer recycled plastic.”
With Google being such a big technology company there are plenty of areas in its business where it can cut down carbon emissions. By focusing on consumer hardware and deliveries, it"ll not only be focusing on energy usage but its usage of items like rare metals too.