Sun Sorts and Recycles eWaste
Sun Sorts and Recycles eWaste
November 13th, 2006: Global warming is becoming a pushbutton of epic proportions, and while its waste may not be as visible as others, the IT industry is anything but clean and green. Sun Microsystems is on a mission to change this.
At last week’s Climate Protection Summit in San Francisco, Sun's Vice President of Eco Responsibility, David Douglas, emphasised the company's commitment to reducing the increasing burden IT is creating on the environment, proclaiming that Sun is focussed on all facets of eco responsible computing.
The company is showing off progress it has made lowering the environmental impact of what it calls “information-intensive” companies. Sun says it employs a three-pronged approach of "Innovate, Act and Share" to make sure its products and business processes are ecologically responsible, and to follow this through by helping its customers reduce their environmental impact by lowering energy and waste from IT.
“The electricity consumed by the world's datacentres produces nearly 200 million tons of CO2 per year, more than the total CO2 output of all automobiles in China,” said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and President, Sun Microsystems, Inc. “Sun is on a mission to change this, applying $2 billion in annual R&D to systems innovations that lower power consumption, increase datacentre efficiency, and drive capital and human productivity.”
Sun is the latest in a line of prominent vendors to tackle the climate issue. Earlier last week HP announced that it was teaming up with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to do its bit for climate change by reducing energy use and cutting emissions.
"Through our eco-friendly products, workplace and eWaste initiatives, Sun has a truly unique and comprehensive value proposition for our customers," said Douglas. "Sun's products today are consuming less energy, generating less waste, and enabling new, eco responsible business practices. These innovations are changing the conversation with our customers by showing that eco responsibility can benefit the bottom line as well as the earth we share.”
Bandwagon or not, ecological responsibility is important for every company. Sun says that it produces some of the fastest and most energy efficient computers in the world, running on less energy than a light bulb. It also recycles or remanufactures over 95% of its returned products.
Comment on this story