Manufacturing
However, the manufacturing sector is rarely associated with environmental best practices. According to Make UK’s latest Manufacturing Sector Net Zero Roadmap2, it is the UK’s third most emitting sector and is responsible for a sixth of the country’s total emissions. This is an even greater issue in the US, where more than three-quarters of emissions are driven by manufacturing production, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.3
The sector’s slow progress towards sustainability is likely a result of the unique challenges facing the manufacturing industry, which has long been burdened with legacy assets and infrastructure. While unsurprising - many buildings, power supplies, and processes predate the latest technology and climate science - this makes it difficult for organisations to upgrade to more sustainable alternatives.
This means often a CIO’s only option is to opt for a rip-and-replace strategy, which can end up being operationally implausible and leave an even greater carbon footprint in the process. This is also a costly exercise and means CIOs could struggle in persuading the finance department to divert funds away from business-as-usual activities.
However, funding sustainability is one of the most important investments that a manufacturing organisation can make. Not only are stakeholders becoming increasingly eco-conscious, but 60% of consumers worldwide now rate sustainability as a key criterion when choosing where to shop5 and investors are likely to scrutinise the long-term ESG efforts of a business as closely as its financial health.
Manufacturers also need to remember they don’t just have a role to play in reducing their own emissions: they are also key enablers in helping other businesses and industries work towards net zero targets.
Despite these unique challenges, the manufacturing sector is beginning to recognise the importance of becoming more sustainable. A recent report found that despite the challenge of Brexit, 50% of manufacturers in the UK are making headway with their sustainability programmes, with 70% of those reporting that they have benefited from a reduction in costs.6
Some of the world's top industrial organisations are taking bold steps towards a greener future too. According to a recent study by Schneider Electric and Omdia, over half (57%) of leading companies have set carbon-neutral targets to offset their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while more than a third (36%) have established science-backed targets to help limit global warming to 1.5-2 °C.7
Sustainable manufacturing brings a number of benefits, helping organisations obtain increased access to global markets, enhance their business profile, as well as improve consumer perceptions and their corporate reputation.
Device as a service. The growing device as a service (DaaS) movement is one the manufacturing industry can embrace in order to move closer towards net zero goals. With HP DaaS, your organisation gets access to right devices, repair services, and AI-driven analytics to help you optimise your IT spending and resources. HP also offers multi-OS insights and services to help limited IT resources offload some of the arduous tasks of endpoint management.
Renewable energy sources: As access to renewable energy sources grows, manufacturers can adopt fossil fuel alternatives such as solar, wind, water, heat and biomass to propel them towards
sustainability goals. HP is an example of a large organisation that has done just that: the company now uses 100% renewable electricity to power the final assembly of over 95% of its PC and display products worldwide.
In 2021, French car manufacturing giant Renault launched ‘Renaulution’, its strategic plan in which corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability play key roles. The organisation realised the need to be a green and technology-driven company as quickly as possible and is committed to taking actions that help reduce its carbon footprint. By using HP Device Recovery Service, the company’s end-of-use devices are securely collected, sanitised, and restored or responsibly recycled by HP: a total of 1,067 devices were collected, and of those, 94% could be restored and the remaining 6% were responsibility recycled. This effort means that 175.3 metric tons of CO2 - and that Renault is accelerating its sustainability goals and contributing towards the circular economy.4
“Recycling is the key. In the 21st century, we should be recycling 100% of goods. We need to ensure that all people are educated to know that equipment can be recycled, and HP is playing a huge part in this,” said Mesmain.
1 https://www.epa.gov/sustainability/sustainable-manufacturing#:~:text=Sustainable%20manufacturing%20is%20the%20creation,employee%2C%20community%20and%20product%20safety.2 https://inspiredenergy.co.uk/manufacturing-net-zero-roadmap-released-by-inspired-energy-make-uk/3 https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/sustainable-manufacturing-smart-manufacturing4 https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/4AA8-2352ENW.pdf5 https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211014005090/en/Recent-Study-Reveals-More-Than-a-Third-of-Global-Consumers-Are-Willing-to-Pay-More-for-Sustainability-as-Demand-Grows-for-Environmentally-Friendly-Alternatives6 https://www.makeuk.org/insights/reports/manufacturing-stepping-up-to-the-sustainability-challenge7 https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/net-zero-and-energy/winning-ways
