Sustainability and the impact tech companies make on the environment is an important debate. Many major technology brands are committing to dramatically improving their carbon footprint. For Microsoft, its commitment includes promising to become carbon negative by 2030. Now the company is adding an extension to that pledge by saying all Xbox products will be 100% recyclable by the same year.
Xbox was already scheduled to be water positive, zero-waste, and carbon negative by 2030 as part of Microsoft's wider sustainability plans. According to the company in an update, Xbox products will also be zero-waste, water positive, and carbon negative.
Achieving that goal for hardware is more difficult because Microsoft outsources manufacturing. In other words, it is more complicated to control the sustainability efficiency of a partner. To overcome that challenge, Microsoft is targeting specific methods to reach its goals.
According to Microsoft's blog post, all Xbox hardware will be 100% recyclable in all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Devices falling under this commitment are Xbox consoles, all packaging, and accessories. Gift cards will stop being plastic and will be made of paperboard.
Moving Forward
It is worth noting Microsoft says the current Xbox Serie X and S are 97% recyclable, so the company is most of the way towards its commitment.
“Our ambitions are high, and we recognize we still have a long way to go, but we're committed because it is critically important that we get this right for the planet,” the Xbox team says. “But the work is never complete. We're committed to continuing to learn, improve, and grow. You are an important part of this journey. We'll continue to share updates on how we're progressing.”
The commitment includes Xbox Cloud Gaming, which runs on Azure. Microsoft has already pledged to move Azure cloud to 100% renewable energy by 2025.
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