Tags

circular economy
Reuse

ETIRA comment on HP’s Ambitious Climate Action Goals

April 22, 2021

HP outlines broad plans to combat climate change focused on Carbon Emissions, Circularity and Forests    Introduces partnerships to extend impact ranging from ocean conservation to forest restoration

Goals

• Achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across HP value chain by 2040, beginning with supplies business achieving carbon neutrality by 2030
• Reduce HP value chain GHG emissions 50% by 2030.
• Reach carbon neutrality and zero waste in HP operations by 2025.
• Reach 75% circularity for products and packaging by 2030
• Maintain zero deforestation for HP paper and paper-based packaging
• Counteract deforestation for non-HP paper used in our products and print services by 2030

Partnerships

• Expands HP Sustainable Forests Collaborative
• Sponsors Forest Stewardship Council’s Digital Marketplace
• Joins Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance® Steering Committee

Today, in advance of Earth Day, HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) announced some of the most aggressive and comprehensive climate goals in the technology industry. The commitments highlight the progress the company is making to drive a net zero carbon, fully regenerative economy, reduce its overall environmental footprint, and strengthen its business for the long term to create the most sustainable portfolio of products and solutions in the industry.

“Combating the climate crisis is an unprecedented challenge demanding action across the private and public sectors. We all have a shared stake in safeguarding our planet, and making a sustainable impact on the communities we serve must be a priority for all companies,” said Enrique Lores, HP Inc. President and CEO. “At HP, we are united in our ambition to become the world’s most sustainable and just technology company. These new goals reflect our continued efforts to drive toward net-zero carbon emissions – not just within our own operations, but across our entire value chain. It’s not only the right thing to do, but also an increasingly important driver of innovation and growth that will strengthen our business well into the future.”

The Case for Business Transformation

The measures HP is pursuing, including the targets announced today, are among the most comprehensive climate actions in the technology sector and align with relevant U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. In order to achieve these goals, HP is focused on accelerating five strategic drivers intended to decouple growth from carbon emissions and resource consumption, drive innovation, and transform design and business models:

• Print and Compute-as-a-Service: Print supplies renewal, hardware-as-a-service, certified pre-owned, hardware
• Sustainable materials: Increase use of renewable and recycled materials
• Supply chain decarbonization: Drive and support supplier carbon reduction, use of renewable electricity, and adoption of surface transportation and alternative fuels and electric vehicles for product shipments
• Energy efficiency: Design in existing and new energy-efficient product technologies
• Forest investments: Address the fiber used in printing and packaging by investing in forest restoration and protection, and continue to source certified or recycled materials

Carbon emissions and circularity
To achieve these targets, HP will be carbon neutral in its operations by 2025 and reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% on an absolute basis by 2030, compared to 2019.^[vi] Additionally, 75% HP’s total annual product and packaging content, by weight, will come from recycled, renewable and/or reused materials, products and parts by 2030. HP commits to 75% of its total annual product and packaging content (by weight) to come from recycled and renewable materials and reused products and parts by 2030. These actions will help to position HP to reach net zero emissions across its value chain by 2040. In line with HP’s circularity ambitions, HP Operations will be zero waste in its managed facilities by 2025.[vii]  HP’s Customer Support organization will also be carbon neutral across both HP and partner-run operations by 2030.

HP will pursue and accelerate a range of steps, including enabling a circular economy by using more sustainable materials, such as recycled plastics and metals, and investing in forest restoration and protection.[viii] Since 1991, HP has kept more than 875 million HP cartridges, 114 million apparel hangers, and 4.69 billion postconsumer plastic bottles out of landfills—instead, upcycling them to make new HP products. After introducing the world’s most sustainable PC portfolio, HP continues to innovate throughout its product portfolio and work with key partners to achieve circularity. HP is a member of NextWave Plastics, collaborating across industries to create the first global network of ocean-bound plastic supply chains. HP is also a member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Network and the Circulytics measurement tool.

HP was the first global IT company to publish its full carbon footprint and set carbon emissions reduction goals for its operations, supply chain, products and solutions. HP was among the first 10% of companies with GHG emissions reduction goals approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative, including a 1.5°C aligned goal to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions 60% by 2025 compared to 2015. For two consecutive years, HP is the only technology company to have been named to CDP’s A lists for climate, forests, and water, as well as CDP’s supplier engagement leaderboard. HP has been a member of RE 100 since 2016 and EV 100 since 2017.

Reducing Carbon in HP Supplies

HP will transform its print business from a transactional model to a services model, while actively reducing the carbon footprint of its company and its products. To accelerate a transition to a net zero value chain, HP commits to carbon neutrality for its supplies business by 2030.

HP will start transitioning supplies to be carbon neutral by launching HP Instant Ink with Planet Partners pilot, leveraging recycling and new renewal capabilities to extend the life of Original HP Supplies. This pilot will help customers decrease virgin plastic used, and diminish waste, including ocean-bound plastics, on the pathway to circularity. Launching in Germany in May 2021, HP Instant Ink with Planet Partners will allow HP Instant Ink subscribers to opt-in to receive renewed cartridges. The end-to-end use of HP technology and engineering is what makes this pilot unique. The consistent reliability and outstanding print quality of Original HP Supplies mean fewer reprints and less waste.

ETIRA commented “The Voluntary Agreement’s environmental performance since 2011 has been extremely weak, and it did not facilitate cartridge reuse.  If it wants to play a serious role in reducing the environmental footprint of the printing industry, it must include strong eco-design regulation, clear reuse targets for OEMs such as HP, and decisive action against polluting single-use clone cartridges.”