The bigger picture: why we should get serious about recycling and reusing “Humans manufacture enormous amounts of materials, resulting in copious amounts of greenhouse gases, nearly a third of the total 51 billion tons we emit per year. We need to get those emissions down to Zero.” Bill Gates[1]
According to Gates, reusing something doesn’t require nearly as much energy as recycling, so we should also be looking at ways to build and make things using repurposed materials.
The ICT-sector stands for approximately 730 million tons CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2-eq) or 1.4 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions for the total life cycle carbon footprint. Modern applications are almost always deployed over the cloud, hosted at data centers that consume about 2% of global electricity today; by 2030, they could consume as much as 8%.
Data Respons is a specialized technology company and we are aware of our carbon footprint. As stated in our 2020 ESG-report (reporting on 2019 emissions), we had 9303 tons CO2 emissions. The majority of our emissions come from Scope 3 -purchase of goods, more detailed from production of technology devices.
We believe that in order to start the journey to reach net-zero, which we aim to achieve by 2025, we need to implement circular economy, cradle-to-cradle (C2C) and eco design concepts. Data Respons’ business model is mainly focused on software development services, which generally emits little greenhouse gasses. However, parts of our business also develop hardware technology, which is where we aim to introduce the concepts mentioned above. We believe that this is best achievable through through close collaboration and continuous interaction with our customers and suppliers.
As a first step into a more circular business, we need to increase our competence within green technology businesses. Consequently, we have recently joined the Nordic network SKIFT and signed their 10 principles for circular business. By joining this network of businesses, we have the opportunity to take part in knowledge-sharing, which will help us on the journey of transforming to an increasingly circular economy. The principles are intended as a simple guide which all companies include in their process of evolving from a linear to a circular economy.
“We are happy to see the leadership Data Response take on their journey from a linear economy to a circular economy. Technology companies are powerhouses of innovation and play a critical role to achieve sustainable and green growth. A circular economy for technology companies will open new market horizons and at the same time reduce the exposure to the environment.
Skift is very grateful that Data Response supports the 10 principles and becomes part of our learning platform for circular economy. We hope Data Response´s customers and suppliers also will support this call to action for a more circular economy among businesses!”
Bjørn K. Haugland, CEO Skift – Business Climate Leaders.
The 10 principles for a circular economy
Our daughter company Data Respons Solutions produces embedded technology solutions, and thus have an important role in influencing their customers towards a shift from linear to circular production concepts.
“We do not develop our own products but develop solutions according to our customers specification. Our most valuable contribution is to positively influence our customers to choose sustainable options. We provide our customers with expertise to make the product both green, rugged, and profitable. This can be a difficult balancing where we need to take our customer’s concerns of reduced quality seriously. Knowing that extreme environments place special demands on industrial solutions to ensure optimum functionality vs. protecting the environment.” Jørn Toppe, CEO at Data Respons Solutions.
Data Respons Solutions follows the ROHS-directive, that includes minimized use of energy, thinking long-term and using fewer components and parts. The products should be designed for lifetime sustainability, easy to maintain and service and easy to upgrade to increase the products lifetime.
We are, however, experiencing that there is a higher environmental focus among our customers. There is increased access to good technical alternative product / solutions that are environmentally friendly and that aren’t conflicting with, or compromising, the technical solution. In the future, we aim to professionalize our procedures to offer our customers’ circular products/solutions and make it traceable that the opportunities were reviewed with the customer”. Lynda Haig Thoresen, Marketing, Communications & Sustainability Manager, Data Respons Solutions.
At Data Respons, we believe in taking responsibility for how people, the environment and society are affected by our operations. However, we are convinced that by taking action to make our supply chain sustainable, we will see economically benefits, long term. At the same time, we will stay the desired choice for our customers, stakeholders and employees. Ultimately, this journey will lead to even more competitive and attractive products.
[1] Gates, Bill. 2021, p.110