Sustainable resource use

Environmental management systems (EMS) provide a structured basis for businesses to plan, implement and monitor their environmental performance improvements. There is increasing consumer pressure for firms to be able to explain and verify their environmental impacts through an accredited EMS. The Ministry of Economic Development will increase the uptake of EMS among small and medium enterprises by providing a suite of web-based environmental management tools for use by businesses in New Zealand.

Digital technologies can be made more environmentally sustainable and can be used to reduce resource use, energy consumption and carbon emissions. However, we cannot assume that digital technology is necessarily good for the environment. Its manufacture and use is estimated to create two per cent of global carbon emissions.¹ Although ICT is becoming much more energy-efficient, the growing number of devices and users, and the amount of data that needs to be stored, means that total carbon emissions from digital technology will continue to grow. Digital hardware uses large amounts of raw materials in its manufacture, can contain toxic substances, tends to have a short lifespan and is often not recyclable. This has created an international e-waste problem.

Sustainable, energy-efficient, recyclable ICT needs to become a priority. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is setting Minimum Energy Performance Standards for ICT to prevent the least efficient products from being sold. Government is also creating sustainable ICT procurement guidelines for its purchases.

An environmentally sustainable society will follow a ‘cradle-to-cradle’ design and production philosophy. ‘Cradle-to-cradle’ means that all products are designed to be fully recycled at the end of their lives. Those that cannot be repaired and reused are broken down and their component materials reused. Nothing is ever wasted – everything becomes a resource for future use.

Currently, most items, including ICT products, are not designed in line with these principles. In the meantime, product stewardship can help manage the environmental effects of ICT, including e-waste. Product stewardship encourages everyone involved in the manufacture, use and disposal of a product – producers, brand owners, importers, retailers, consumers and others – to take greater responsibility for its environmental effects throughout its life cycle. The Ministry for the Environment is working with industry on a product stewardship programme of work for ICT.

We all need to make environmentally sustainable choices if the digital revolution is to contribute to a healthy environment.

Case studies about teleworking and using digital technology to monitor drinking water quality.

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^{1   Mingay, Simon. (2007). Green IT: A new industry shock-wave. Sydney, Australia: Gartner Symposium/ITxpo.}