Do you’re feeling a bit misplaced when individuals discuss with sure environmental sustainability matters and aren’t positive the place to begin in the case of studying extra? Sustainability 101 is a weblog sequence you can flip to for details about completely different environmental phrases which will come up at work, throughout discussions with pals, and even at your annual vacation gathering.
A lot of the local weather change dialog is concentrated on the impacts of actions we take day by day — selecting automobiles that run on low-carbon electrical energy or inexperienced hydrogen as a substitute of gasoline or diesel, shifting to electrical energy from much less emissions-intensive sources, or utilizing merchandise manufactured from recycled content material and/or which can be recyclable.
Nonetheless, shifting to services and products that generate decrease emissions whereas they’re in use tackles solely a part of the greenhouse fuel (GHG) emissions puzzle — what’s known as operational emissions. The opposite a part of the equation — and one which Cisco has additionally been working to cut back by how we design, manufacture, ship and handle our merchandise at finish of life — is what’s known as embodied emissions.Â
Embodied emissions are the GHG emissions generated when manufacturing a product (or the parts that go right into a product), when transporting it and when it’s handled on the finish of its helpful life. These emissions are already a part of it before you purchase and/or use it [1].
A key focus space for a lot of expertise firms is to deal with the operational emissions of units in use as we speak by enhancing the power effectivity of those merchandise. Nonetheless, the place firms have the best means to have an effect on emissions is thru the design, manufacturing, transportation (together with reverse logistics) and reusability/recyclability of merchandise. To make a product with a decrease carbon impression over its lifecycle, we have now to know what makes up the embodied emissions in a product and the way we are able to design or modify the methods we make and transport it to cut back emissions.
A not-so-small step for humankind: quantifying a product’s embodied carbon emissions.
The complete scope of emissions generated by the manufacturing, transportation, use and finish of lifetime of a product may be quantified by a lifecycle evaluation (LCA). This includes assessing what emissions resulted from manufacturing a product: from extracting or manufacturing its base supplies (e.g., plastic for laptop circumstances, battery supplies like lithium), to the share of power utilized in factories to remodel supplies into parts after which assemble parts into that single product. Emissions may also be generated when producing packaging for a product, when transporting it to the end-user and from remedy on the finish of its helpful life.
In a means, measuring operational carbon is probably going extra simple — primarily based on measurable metrics equivalent to supply and amount of electrical energy used, gallons of gasoline consumed, and the emission components related to them. By comparability, assessing embodied carbon of a product requires a spread of actions:
- Defining the system boundaries, i.e., which course of steps are included and excluded;
- Utilizing a acknowledged methodology for the gathering of knowledge and emissions quantification — for instance, steerage from the Greenhouse Fuel Protocol (i.e., Product Lifecycle Accounting and Reporting Normal), Publicly Out there Specification (PAS) 2050, the ISO14040-44 requirements or the ISO14067 customary;
- Accumulating knowledge on the amount of supplies used and power consumption at every lifecycle stage, in addition to the carbon dioxide equal (CO2e) emission issue for every materials and course of to quantify complete CO2e emissions; and
- Ensuring the info for the chosen evaluation is constant (e.g., purposeful unit, timescale).
Upon getting that data, you’ll be able to quantify the embodied carbon emissions in a product and begin the true work — utilizing that data to establish methods to cut back these emissions.
The precise knowledge can level the best way to focused emissions reductions.
With a wealthy understanding of a product’s embodied carbon emissions, product designers can then probably make selections that cut back that product’s embodied emissions shifting ahead. Throughout product design, firms can contemplate substituting lower-carbon supplies into merchandise. That substitution can take the type of utilizing the identical materials(s) produced in a much less emissions-intensive method (i.e., through the use of recycled materials, extra power environment friendly industrial processes and/or lower-carbon power on the manufacturing facility stage) or through the use of an alternate materials that’s much less emissions intensive to supply.
As well as, producers can optimize processes and implement design adjustments to cut back the general use of supplies and the quantity of waste generated throughout manufacturing. Embodied emissions may also be decreased through the use of extra power environment friendly manufacturing processes and applied sciences, and utilizing low-carbon sources of power for these processes. The impression of transportation too may be decreased by implementing adjustments equivalent to utilizing low-carbon modes of transport and gasoline sorts.
Closing the loop.
Cisco’s workforce has been arduous at work performing its personal lifecycle assessments and product carbon footprints assessments to account for the greenhouse fuel emissions from its manufacturing, transportation, and end-of-life remedy for its merchandise. Details about these processes may be discovered on Cisco’s ESG Hub.
Manufacturing, transport, and end-of-life emissions could make up roughly 1 / 4 of complete emissions in Cisco merchandise [2], which is why it’s vital to account for and work to cut back emissions not ensuing from product use. Calculating the impacts of Cisco merchandise permits our groups to not solely perceive the lifecycle carbon impacts of our merchandise, however to mannequin the impacts of assorted design, materials and course of adjustments that may be made to our merchandise.
Cisco has a public purpose for 100% of recent Cisco merchandise and packaging to include Round Design Ideas by FY25. Cisco has recognized 25 Round Design Ideas, organized throughout the 5 focus areas beneath. These Ideas play a pivotal function in enabling the discount of GHG emissions throughout the lifecycles of Cisco merchandise, particularly their embodied carbon emissions. Go to the ESG Hub for extra particulars on Cisco’s purpose and its Round Design Ideas.
Cisco additionally has packages to encourage product returns, reuse, and recycling to cut back emissions from product finish of use. When merchandise are returned to Cisco, we consider their situation and eligibility for reuse. If the product is in usable situation or repairable and there may be demand for the product, it undergoes a testing and/or restore course of to satisfy Cisco’s high quality requirements. One of many major targets of product return course of is to redeploy as a lot materials as attainable, thus lowering the manufacturing of virgin supplies and subsequent emissions.
- Product returns: Varied packages provided for purchasers to return merchandise again to Cisco to make sure that they observe the best worth finish of use pathway.
- Product reuse: Reuse is all the time a prime precedence. Returned units that may be reused are remanufactured, refurbished, or repaired, and resold by Cisco Refresh, or utilized by Cisco service operations or our inner labs.
- Product recycling: Any merchandise that aren’t reusable are harvested for parts that may be reused, and remaining supplies are recycled the place attainable by one in every of our licensed recyclers. We presently have two contracted e-scrap recyclers. Every recycler makes use of each company-owned services and subcontracted recyclers to offer world recycling protection.
Please go to the ESG Hub for particulars on the assorted returns and reuse packages provided.
Calculating product embodied carbon emissions is vital for Cisco to assist our prospects in quantifying the carbon impression of the merchandise they buy, and it additionally supplies Cisco with data that’s essential in our efforts to cut back the GHG emissions related to our merchandise.
[1] Carbon Herald, https://carbonherald.com/what-is-embodied-carbon-and-why-does-it-matter/
[2]That is primarily based on lifecycle greenhouse fuel emissions quantified for Cisco ICT merchandise utilizing world electricity-use emission components. Go to the ESG Hub (“Environmental Footprint of our Merchandise”) for extra particulars.
Share:
