Last Updated on 2024-10-11
The demand for sustainable technology is rapidly growing. Learn how businesses are designing their products with sustainability in mind.
As the world of tech continues to expand, companies are shifting to more eco-friendly practices to ensure they can cater to both people and the environment. More and more businesses are investing in sustainable technology to keep the momentum of growth without compromising natural resources. Tech giants like Samsung, IBM, Intel, Apple, and Dell are already implementing sustainability practices in their operations.
However, reducing the carbon footprint in the electronics industry is challenging, especially for reputable manufacturers. Sustainability practices will disrupt and challenge traditional and conventional practices. Nonetheless, government regulations and customer demands are putting more pressure on businesses all around the world to do more to reduce emissions.
If you want to keep up with competitors in the tech industry, learning more about sustainability practices is imperative. In this entry, weโll discuss the ongoing sustainability trends happening among tech businesses. Learn how you can employ the same types of methods and processes in your own operations.
The Importance of Sustainability in Tech
Tech companies are gradually following circular business models to ensure they meet their customerโs demands while retaining the quality of their products. The circular business model enables organizations to produce value through resource efficiency and prolonging the life of products and their components. By creating new business models and utilizing raw materials more effectively, these models can open up new economic prospects for companies.
Today, there is an even greater urgency in the electronics industry’s need for a circular economy. Companies have to adhere to new regulations to prevent resource depletion, environmental degradation, and adverse health effects. They have to cooperate and promote the larger transition to a Net Zero economy to lessen the effects of GHG-induced climate change.
This shift to sustainable technology will ensure longevity in the business and strengthen their patronage. Customers are more likely to support businesses that are employing environment-friendly practices and campaigns.
Sustainable Technology Trends
Here are some of the top sustainability technology trends that are helping businesses cut down production waste while boosting the quality of their products:
1. Developing products with sustainability and circularity in mind.
Every product’s life cycle phase, even in SDLC in the SaaS industry, must adhere to a circular economy. By developing items that are simple to upgrade, fix, and disassemble for recycling, manufacturers will be able to create products that are easy to use.
Here are some of the sustainability practices you can follow in developing the product:
- Use of more recyclable materials in new goods as well as recyclable materials.
- Enhancing the products’ modularity and detachability, reducing the use of strong adhesives, and using fewer blended parts will make it easier to harvest and recycle parts at the end of a product’s useful life.
- Focus on durability and repairability, the long-term design of items, and avoiding planned obsolescence models.
2. Collecting used products.
Most electronics manufacturers consider their relationship with their product to be complete once the consumer has it in their hands. In order for consumers to return their used electronics or component parts for recycling or refurbishment, manufacturers are setting up a reverse logistics system. Manufacturers are the best entities to facilitate a safe and effective recycling process for their materials. Through recycling materials, they can boost their production of sustainable technology.
3. Distributing refurbished items to new user communities and applications.
There may be a number of potential pathways for the used components once the used products and components have been collected. Refurbished gadgets can be sold at a discount to lower-end customers, increasing their availability to more user groups.
Another illustration is the rising need for electronic components as the Internet of Things develops. Screens, batteries, sensors, hard drives, and semiconductors are examples of basic components that can be reused for high-performance applications to lower ones. Reusing these materials can extend their useful lives and lower the need for replacement parts.
4. Enhancing the source of materials and industrial synergy.
It can be difficult to turn e-waste into useful sources for new electronic components when the material is steel, for example. In such circumstances, industrial symbiosisโa collaboration between several companies to interchange recyclable and waste materialsโis required.
Successful cross-industry collaboration on this issue may be seen in Lime’s recycling of abandoned scooters into consumer electronics or the creation of carbon fiber-reinforced polycarbonate laptop bottoms by Dell using leftover carbon fiber from the aerospace sector.
5. Researching fresh business concepts for the circular economy.
Producers and consumers should be given incentives to realize a circular economy for electronics. A Berlin firm, called Grover, which offers a subscription model for consumer electronics, is one example of a business model that leases devices instead of selling them.
Other possibilities include expanding refurbishment and resale networks beyond unofficial peer-to-peer transactions. Platforms like eBay or networks like O2 allow users to trade in their old phones to be repaired and resold with a 12-month warranty.
6. Using renewable energy to power production
Access to renewable energy is growing in importance as businesses construct new fabrication facilities. More readily available renewable energy gives businesses a new form of production leverage and promotes domestic manufacturing. They can build more sustainable technology through it. Thanks to significant energy savings and energy independence, the fabrication of various electronic components is probably going to become increasingly cost-competitive.
7. Smart manufacturing
Making environmentally friendly electronics presents several opportunities to boost output, reduce waste, and minimize prices. Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things can enable sustainable manufacturing. Businesses may help reduce waste and out-of-control expenses by utilizing sensor technologies to spot leaks and improper material usage. Sensor technologies with sophisticated digital manufacturing techniques can automate these processes.
8. Fleet Software
Implementing a robustย vehicle maintenance scheduleย enhances sustainability in transportation by optimizing fuel usage and reducing emissions. This software provides real-time data on fuel consumption and vehicle performance, enabling companies to make informed decisions that cut costs and minimize environmental impact. By improving efficiency, fleet fuel management software contributes to a greener future.
Develop Your Product with Full Scale
Want to learn more about sustainability? Plan out a new digital system thatโs more environmentally friendly. You need tech experts who can follow your vision to create effective and sustainable technology. And Full Scale can help you find the best IT talent in the industry!
Finding highly skilled professionals in the IT industry can be challenging, especially with the ongoing IT talent shortage. At Full Scale, our goal is to match you with the most qualified candidates for your project. Weโll help you establish and maintain a convenient dynamic with your team.
We expedite hiring on your end by following a comprehensive screening process for software engineers, testers, project managers, and marketing specialists. Hire the top specialists quickly and affordably with Full Scale!
Contact us today!
Matt Watson is a serial tech entrepreneur who has started four companies and had a nine-figure exit. He was the founder and CTO of VinSolutions, the #1 CRM software used in today’s automotive industry. He has over twenty years of experience working as a tech CTO and building cutting-edge SaaS solutions.
As the CEO of Full Scale, he has helped over 100 tech companies build their software services and development teams. Full Scale specializes in helping tech companies grow by augmenting their in-house teams with software development talent from the Philippines.
Matt hosts Startup Hustle, a top podcast about entrepreneurship with over 6 million downloads. He has a wealth of knowledge about startups and business from his personal experience and from interviewing hundreds of other entrepreneurs.