How remote and hybrid work is impacting corporate sustainability

In order for a company to stay on track with their sustainability efforts, they'll have to consider how and where they work. 

According to a new survey from technology insights company Barco ClickShare, 95% of IT decision makers acknowledged that hybrid and remote work has impacted IT's ability to enact and operate sustainably. If employers want to stay in line with their ESG goals and efforts, they'll need to be aware of all of the consequences. 

"Remote and hybrid schedules cut down on things like commuting and reduce the need for office expansion," says Dan Root, head of global strategic alliances for Barco Clickshare. "On the negative side, they have also increased things like e-waste and increased the burden on the employee's personal devices and equipment." 

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E-waste consists of unused and out-of-date equipment, like bags of cables and old company-issued phones and laptops, as well as the accompanying accessories. Every time these items are upgraded and replaced, the older models are largely rendered useless. Given the lack of recycling options for these items, most of them end up in landfills.

Globally, only 42% of countries have adopted some kind of e-waste policy, regulation, or legislation, though enforcement remains "a genuine challenge globally," according to a 2022 report from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. This is mainly due to a lack of collection and recycling targets, low awareness and few appropriate disposal options. As a result, less than 25% of e-waste is recycled properly.

"On an individual level it may appear insignificant," Root says. "But as product refresh cycles increase in frequency, the problem is amplified by millions of cables and devices being tossed out each year — wasting valuable natural metals and minerals that were already mined and processed."

While remote work has led to a reduction in overall carbon footprint due to increased reliance on more energy-efficient cloud services compared to traditional on-premises servers, companies have to take more than just their own devices into account if they're truly committed to being eco-friendly.  

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"The rise in personal device usage leads to even more frequent disposal, often without recycling, as refresh rates increase," Root says. "It also plays into an organizations' inability to accurately track its carbon footprint, as the device's energy consumption is not known."

The best way for organizations to be proactive is to tailor sustainability policies and practices to their specific work model. This means prioritizing sourcing the right company data and relying on it to make important environmentally conscious decisions. 

"This phenomenon on an enterprise scale can quickly spiral without management processes in place," Root says. "Implementing e-waste recycling programs for both in-office and remote employees, ensuring responsible device disposal and using vendor life cycle assessments to understand the impacts of device utilization over time [can help]."