Lenovo - Innovating towards a sustainable future


10/31/2022

Lenovo’s Director of ESG and Principle Engineer Mary Jacques speaks on the company's pioneering efforts to create more sustainable future.


Being a leader in sustainability necessitates cutting-edge technology and the courage to do things differently, from gleaming arrays of solar panels on factory roofs to innovative manufacturing processes. Lenovo is harnessing new ideas in everything from biofuels to energy-efficient liquid cooling systems for data centers around the world, paving the way for a more sustainable manufacturing future.

In today's economy, no company operates in isolation, and collaborative efforts to develop new, low-carbon ways of working have a greater impact. Reduced carbon emissions necessitate difficult discussions with suppliers and partners. Lenovo has reached out to partners from various industries to support the use of sustainable aviation fuels with DB Schenker, as well as to encourage partners to switch to electrified fleets. Lenovo is also collaborating with its supply chain to incorporate sustainable biofuels into our ocean shipping with Maersk. Every company has a role to play in the transition to a more sustainable future.

Sustainability cannot be regarded as a threat to business performance. In fact, Lenovo's technological advancements are already enabling customers to save money while lowering emissions. Traditional air-cooled data centers consume enormous amounts of energy, and our own research indicates that 10% of power is used solely to operate fans to cool the servers, rather than moving, storing, or computing data. It's one of the reasons we created our own Neptune water-cooling system, which enables data centers to run 40% more efficiently.

Lenovo recognizes the importance of data-driven decisions in making more sustainable decisions. Business leaders must understand the environmental and financial consequences of their decisions, as well as the long- and short-term trade-offs for both. Lenovo has been measuring its emissions since 2009/10, when it established its first emissions reduction goals, which it met and exceeded in 2020.
 
Lenovo took a new approach to emissions reduction in 2020, submitting its next generation of emissions reduction targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation. Lenovo supports a science-based approach to mitigating the effects of climate change and is SBTi to ensure credibility in their work to mitigate climate change. SBTi developed the first science-based Net-Zero Standard for emissions reduction in order to establish meaningful goals for measuring the journey to net-zero emissions.

Aligning with SBTi's science-based approach contributes to the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius - a critical threshold that, if crossed, will expose the world to the worst effects of climate change. The first step in establishing a net-zero target for a company is to set short-term targets focusing on 2030 as the first step toward reaching net-zero by 2050. Lenovo's 2030 targets include a 50% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions (associated with our own operations) and a 25% reduction in emissions intensity in key value chain areas (products, suppliers, and transportation).

Lenovo's innovation is critical to meeting its targets, and the company has set 2030 goals of increasing energy efficiency by 30% for notebooks and smartphones and 50% for desktops and servers.

Lenovo is sowing the seeds of low carbon manufacturing at one groundbreaking factory under construction in Tianjin, China, with thousands of square meters of solar panels on site, carbon emission tracking throughout the entire production process, and solar-powered streetlights and bins. Everything is measured (and the site is designed to be user-friendly), with the goal of setting a new standard for manufacturing and shaping the future of technology around the world.

Lenovo, as a global technology company, has the opportunity to use its size to make a positive difference. With four devices purchased every second, Lenovo's design decisions today can make a significant difference for our customers and the environment - impacting not only that individual product, but future generations of products, and inspiring other companies to 'raise their game' when it comes to sustainability.

Lenovo recycled over 29,000 metric tons of products through its product take back process in 2021. Lenovo has processes in place to ensure that these products are responsibly recycled through approved partners. Some of these materials could be recycled and used in new electronic products. Lenovo is assisting in the growth of the market for closed-loop post-consumer recycled content. In 248 products, we use material sourced from used IT and electronics, and we hope to increase this number by 2025.

According to the United Nations, more than 50 million tons of electronic waste are generated each year, enough to cover Manhattan in discarded circuitry. To combat this, new methods of reusing products as part of the 'circular economy' must be developed, as well as new recycled materials that meet the high-quality standards required for consumer electronics. Lenovo aims to have 100% of its PC products contain recycled content by 2025, as well as to expand plastic-free packaging to more products. There is enormous potential to reduce waste and recover value in the world of data centers. Lenovo's Asset Recovery Service helps customers recover value from decommissioned equipment while also reducing the environmental impact of server technology.

As Lenovo innovates for sustainability, it is eager to share the results of its research in order to help the industry create a more sustainable future. Lenovo pioneered a Low Temperature Solder process in 2017, which has saved an estimated 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide since its inception.

Following the development of the new soldering processes, Lenovo made the technology available to any other company interested in incorporating it into their manufacturing processes.

Lenovo respects the expertise of the investor and NGO communities and supports the development of new standards for measuring and disclosing environmental impact. Lenovo is laying the groundwork for future environmental improvements by issuing a $625 million green bond to fund sustainable building initiatives.

When it comes to shaping our low-carbon future, technology companies have a unique opportunity to lead the global conversation. Sustainable technological innovation will help to propel the world's transition to net-zero energy.

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