Xiaomi report outlines its efforts to be more sustainable

The Chinese firm Xiaomi has released a new report that focuses on its sustainability efforts. While the report covers the typical aspects of sustainability such as how good devices are for the environment, the report also addresses a wider range of topics relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

While the report itself is 34 pages long, there are some important highlights that can be extracted. In terms of product recycling, a key pillar in sustainability, Xiaomi said that it has a trade-in program running in China so that all of its smartphones can be returned for recycling or responsible disposal. As of March 2021, this service has also rolled out in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands and by the end of the year, it will collect and recycle products in China, India, and Europe.

Another green step that the company has taken is to reduce the amount of plastic usage for its Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro series packaging. It said that it’s working to cut out the amount of plastic packaging it ships out, especially in the European market. Regarding the EU, the firm also said it has various certifications in place that means any data that leaves the European Economic Area is fully compliant with EU rules and the GDPR.

On addressing wider issues of sustainable development, Xiaomi pointed to an earthquake early warning system that it is now part of. Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI 11 or above and Mi TVs can notify users within seconds if there’s an earthquake happening nearby. The alerts give users information about emergency shelters, emergency contact details, medical contacts, and rescue information. This system has detected 29 earthquakes above magnitude 4.0 and has issued more than 9.4 million alerts, potentially keeping a lot of people safe.

With regards to Sustainable Development Goal #3: Good Health and Well-Being, Xiaomi said that it has helped fight against COVID-19 by donating supplies worth $854,000 to 14 countries. It also donated 1,000 smartphones to the Spanish Ministry of Education to help kids learn from home during the pandemic.

Lei Jun, the firm’s head, said that Xiaomi has signed up the UN’s non-binding Global Compact initiative which aims to get businesses following a corporate responsibility programme consisting of ten goals.