Google’s data centres to become zero waste
Tech giant Google has promised for all its global data centres to become zero waste
Tech giant Google has promised for all its global data centres to become zero waste.
The company have based its waste management approach on UL Environment’s zero waste to landfill standard and defines zero waste to landfill as diverting 100 per cent “to a more sustainable pathway with no more than 10 percent of it going to a waste-to-energy facility, unless waste-to-energy can be proved more valuable than alternative diversion paths”.
No timeline has been established but thanks to the application of circular economy, 14 data centres have already achieved 100 per cent landfill diversion, according to Jim Miller, vice president of global operations.
According to Rachel Futrell, Technical Programme Manager, Google’s data centres operations globally divert around 86 per cent of waste.
The strategy has also saved the company millions of dollars in materials.
Miller said: “We…have evidence that we don’t need to sacrifice one shade of green for another… In 2015, 52 percent of components used for machine upgrades were refurbished inventory and Google resold nearly 2 million units into the secondary market for reuse by other organizations.”
The company’s plan for diverting waste involves reusing its equipment and materials before buying new, or if not reusable, reselling or recycling the equipment.
Other techniques used by Google include large-scale composting and using a software system called LeanPath that tracks food waste - enabling the company to reach an 86 per cent diversion rate in San Francisco Bay Area.
