IT Teams Should be Vocal About Environmental Sustainability

Loubna Imenchal, the Head of Enterprise Business for AMECA at Logitech, says carbon is the new calorie and everyone should know what they’re consuming

Please tell us about your efforts that ensure a sustainable and equitable digital future.
Social Impact programs are a crucial element of the sustainability agenda set by Logitech and is founded on three key pillars: Culture, Community and Customer. Last year, we migrated from Sustainability Reporting to Impact Reporting. This change in terminology and focus is intentional and reflects our commitment to being candid about our impact, as well as the challenges that lie ahead and the progress we are making.

The progress we achieved notably in increasing the usage of recycled plastic in clamshell packaging and eliminating single-use plastics is a testament to our commitment to this approach. Post-consumer recycled plastics are now implemented across 58% of our products. During the same period, we eliminated more than 500 tons of plastic packaging. Our long-term goal is to eliminate plastic from packaging completely.

Let’s take Sight, Logitech’s AI-powered meeting room camera for example, it was launched with recycled plastic parts, PVC-free cables, FSC-certified paper packaging, and low-carbon Aluminium resulting in a 21 % reduction in carbon footprint compared to a ‘do nothing’ scenario. Similarly, the Logitech Rally Bar Huddle includes a minimum of 42% certified post-consumer recycled plastic.

We also continue to accelerate our Design for Sustainability capabilities, to design for a sustainable and equitable world. For us, this means considering sustainability as part of every design and product development decision. Our Design for Sustainability framework ensures we scale and accelerate the transition to lower-impact materials and circular alternatives across our product portfolio.

Sourcing materials and the manufacturing of Logitech products comprise 65% of the company’s entire carbon footprint, moving to renewable energy, partnering with suppliers, and focusing on removing and reducing hidden impacts early in the design process is critical to achieving the company’s climate goals. And we have performed well on this front too. The new compact-sized version of our popular MX Mechanical keyboard achieved a 40% reduction in carbon footprint after implementing similar Design for Sustainability design principles.

What is your commitment to combat climate change?
We believe carbon is the new calorie — everyone should know what they’re consuming. That’s why we have voluntarily pledged to provide product lifecycle carbon impact labels on product packaging across our entire portfolio in what we believe is an industry-first Carbon Clarity commitment. By 2025 we commit that all of our major product lines will have a product carbon footprint label on their packaging and product web pages. Our longer-term goal is to catalyze an industry-wide shift to lower carbon products and reduce impact on the environment. We are committed to transparently doing this and this report is a testament to that.

What sort of trends do you foresee in the areas of sustainability and technology?
In an era of climate change, we expect to see IT teams be vocal about environmental sustainability and ensure the products, solutions and services they invest in are a testament to their commitments. This is important because IT can help organizations automate and digitize processes that reduce energy consumption and the use of natural resources.

IT’s greater opportunity to reduce a company’s environmental impact may come from its own procurement decisions. As more organisations actively look for methods and techniques to reduce their carbon footprint, they will rely on and become more data-centric and use innovations such as AI and automation to create their sustainability plans, precisely evaluate their progress, and make educated decisions.

How do you envision your role in shaping a more sustainable future in 2024 and beyond?
As a design company, we realised that the biggest opportunities to reduce environmental impact arise early in the design process when key decisions about a product are made. We focus on designing products for sustainability so that people choosing to buy new electronic devices have more choices that are closely aligned with their values. 1 in 3 Logitech products now contain recycled materials, a number that continues to increase with the launch of new products. We have also impacted the carbon footprint of 160+ product lines through recycled plastics, Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) size reduction, lower weight, low-power electronics and better packaging. In addition, we also consider the full life-cycle of our products and design for low carbon, low toxicity and high recyclability.

How are you aligning your sustainability initiatives in line with the themes of COP28?
Logitech participated in COP28 proudly supporting the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and being part of conversations on conversations about what the ocean can do for the planet and what humans can do to protect the ocean.

On the same note, Logitech has made efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its packaging by optimizing the size and materials used. This includes reducing the use of plastic and implementing more sustainable packaging designs, using industry-leading best practice tools and processes to promote responsible sourcing and avoidance of conflict minerals throughout the global supply chain.

We are also integrating certified post-consumer recycled plastic into our products. As of March 2023, 58 % of Logitech products already include ‘Next Life Plastics’ and these materials are used across all product categories, including mice, keyboards, headsets, webcams, speakers, and video-conference systems.