Green Laptops: How Sustainable Can Notebooks Be?

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Bamboo, sugar cane, recycling – how sustainable can notebooks really be?

In addition to Lenovo, Asus is also showing, here the ZenBook 14X OLED, new notebooks with packaging that is either easily recyclable or made from recycled materials

In addition to Lenovo, Asus is also showing, here the ZenBook 14X OLED, new notebooks with packaging that is either easily recyclable or made from recycled materials

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Notebooks are not exactly environmentally friendly to manufacture. Manufacturers therefore rely more on recycled materials or easy-to-dispose packaging. The topic is also important for buyers. When it comes to production and price, however, there is a “dirty truth”.

DLenovo’s new Thinkpads Z13 and Z16 don’t necessarily sprout trees, and the Pacific garbage patch won’t go away with them either. However, some of the business notebooks presented at the CES technology fair are made from recycled materials.

Even the manufacturer does not sell the notebooks as green. The recycled aluminum or recycled black faux leather is aptly called “more sustainable materials”.

According to the manufacturer, 90 percent of the components in the power supply are made from “post-consumer content”. In other words: there are, for example, recycled PET bottles from the garbage, metals from electronic waste or other materials that have been given a new shape.

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Reasons for the global bottleneck

The packaging of the Thinkpads consists of compostable bamboo and sugar cane. In addition to Lenovo, Asus is also showing new notebooks with packaging at CES that can either be easily recycled or are made from recycled materials.

Or the packaging has a secondary use: With the Space Edition of the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED, the packaging becomes an inclined notebook stand for more comfortable work. Lenovo and Asus aren’t the only manufacturers that are taking a more sustainable approach when it comes to the use of materials. Apple also uses recycled metals and other materials in production.

For several years, Samsung has been working with packaging that can either be easily recycled or partially reused. Like Apple, the Koreans no longer include a power supply with new smartphones – the smaller packaging saves materials.

Sustainability is important to consumers

According to Lewis Ward from the market analyst IDC, it has so far been difficult to objectively measure how far and how quickly more sustainable production will gain a foothold in the industry. “Climate change is an external problem and few companies understand the positive long-term effects of more sustainable production,” he says. He expects changes more through political incentives.

Sustainability is already an issue for buyers. This is shown by the 2021 sustainability report by management consultancy Simon-Kucher. Around four out of five respondents think sustainability is important and would like to live more sustainably. After all, for every second (50 percent) sustainability is an important purchase criterion – but not the only one.

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The market researchers at GfK see sustainability as a consumer trend for 2022. Two thirds (69 percent) of the participants surveyed in the Consumer Panel Germany demand that companies behave as environmentally friendly as possible. For example by using environmentally friendly materials.

“The dirty truth,” says IDC analyst Lewis Ward, is that “greener” production leads to a higher price. It is not for nothing that Lenovo’s notebooks with recycled aluminum, Samsung’s televisions packed in eco-friendly cardboard or smartphones without a power supply are not in the low-price segment. According to the Simon Kucher Report, only around a third of those surveyed (34 percent) are willing to pay a surcharge for sustainability.

CO2-Compensate for computer emissions

With Lenovo, this will soon be possible in some cases. If you want to compensate for the CO₂ footprint of your notebook, you can do so with the new Yoga and Legion models.

If you choose the optional CO₂ offset when purchasing via the online shop, an additional fee will be charged. According to Lenovo, it is calculated from the typical CO₂ emissions of the average device runtime. The money goes to several United Nations Climate Action projects.

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In addition to such manufacturer initiatives, buyers of electronic devices always have the option of voluntarily offsetting emissions. The Federal Environment Agency has published a free guide for this purpose. He also explains how to find reputable providers and worthwhile projects to support.

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