The challenge of creating a cleaner and greener planet has never been greater than it is in 2024. At the same time, this challenge offers an opportunity for our shared future. Technology is the key to seizing this opportunity for change. However, it is critical that we understand how to leverage this technology for maximum sustainability benefits. This is a delicate balance and requires a holistic approach based on sustainable IT solutions and the implementation of best practices. Whether it’s investment, usage, efficiency – or all three – many of the current answers can be found in sustainable IT. In this guest article I highlight five important pillars of a sustainable IT strategy:

1. Optimize and modernize infrastructure

Poor utilization of IT resources, such as idle or underutilized servers, is the biggest waste of energy in the data center. So start with a complete audit of the IT environment to identify the most energy-consuming and inefficient devices. By replacing these devices and implementing modern, more energy efficient solutions, you can achieve greater efficiency, optimize heating and cooling, and consolidate required space.

Another way to optimize a data center is to squeeze more work out of the current infrastructure. In particular, capacity utilization, power consumption, and cooling are areas that can often be improved through performance

Optimizing data center energy efficiency requires careful planning and more thoughtful and sustainable use of other components, including advanced energy, heating and cooling capabilities. For example, across the Dell Technologies portfolio, we continually strive to make our technology more efficient and less energy intensive so that less energy is wasted in our customers’ data centers.

Automation technologies and telemetry data are also important because they simplify and eliminate human intervention in energy management. Implementing these technologies can reduce off-peak power consumption and help identify energy performance issues more quickly. Other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, software-driven applications and eco-modes can also help manage the heat and power needs of customer and infrastructure products. In this analysis, it is important to know when old devices should be retired. This way you ensure that legacy systems are recycled safely and responsibly.

2. Do more with less

Hardware consolidation is one of the best ways to reduce carbon emissions and the physical footprint of data centers. Today’s exponential data growth in enterprises is driving higher costs and complexity for storage environments. Data centers and edge locations face excessive storage requirements, increasing operational costs, storage management and data protection issues. By consolidating business-critical data into centralized architectures, companies can reduce energy consumption and computing density, resulting in lower total cost of ownership. At the same time, it is better for the environment. Companies should also consider as-a-service models and on-demand solutions like Dell APEX. Not only do these eliminate waste by only consuming what is needed, but they also provide the flexibility to scale up or down at any time depending on your needs. This leads to energy savings and improved efficiency.

3. Choose environmentally friendly sources

The IT industry is highly dependent on finite raw materials, including minerals such as lithium and cobalt. These are associated with high energy and water consumption as well as environmental damage during extraction. There is increasing demand for alternatives to these raw materials that use materials already in use, do not consume additional natural resources, and emit fewer greenhouse gases during production and throughout the product life cycle. For example, our recently launched Latitude AI PCs use 50% recycled cobalt from electric vehicle batteries in their batteries.

Innovations for new and more environmentally friendly materials will contribute to more sustainable IT. And one of the most immediate initiatives is to make the IT design process a closed-loop model. This means that products and materials remain in circulation for as long as possible.

4. Recycle and reuse

According to the UN, up to 57.4 million tons of electronic waste are produced worldwide. Recycling rates are still low: in the EU (the world leader in e-waste recycling), only 35% of e-waste is officially collected and properly recycled.

By offering more repair, recovery and recycling services to consumers and businesses,

Sustainable alternatives will not be available on every production line, so it is also important that we continue to recycle and reuse consistently. We can use recycled plastic and ocean plastic in packaging and products. Old electrical devices that contain valuable metals and minerals are also important suppliers of raw materials.

By approaching IT with a simpler product design, we need fewer raw materials. Additionally, it is easier to reuse and recycle parts and materials. And new business models, such as as-a-service (aaS), are emerging to automate the recovery of discarded IT.

5. Extend the lifespan of your IT

Device lifespan increases as we develop more durable and repairable designs. However, it happens that users quickly replace their electronics when a more powerful model is available, is cheaper or offers better performance. To put it simply: the longer a device is in use, the better it is for the environment. To keep each device running for as long as possible, manufacturers must ensure that the hardware is expandable to meet future needs and that firmware and security updates are available outside of an existing service agreement.

Repairing devices extends their useful life and is almost always more sustainable than buying new devices. To achieve this, it is important that parts are easily replaceable, manuals are easy to find and understand, and parts and warranties are readily available. Repairing equipment to extend its useful life and reusing materials in the process are crucial elements of the circular economy. We see that repair is becoming increasingly important as an adaptable solution for the IT industry.

Technology has the potential to achieve our sustainability goals. Organizations that embrace the five pillars of a sustainable IT strategy can lead the way in terms of productivity and environmental benefits.

This is a contribution from Koen Segers, Managing Director Dell Technologies. Further information about the company’s services can be found here.