Circular Economy Commitments
Accelerating the transition to a circular economy.
We recognize that realizing a sustainable world means that we must accelerate the transition to a circular economy. We must become a circular Google. At Google, we believe the path to a cleaner, healthier future begins with the decisions we make each day. That’s why we build sustainability into everything we do and strive to make smarter, more efficient use of our natural resources.
Creating a circular economy for materials, products, and buildings is a complex global challenge — but we see it as an opportunity to create and share processes, with people and the planet in mind.
A circular Google
We’re constantly looking for new ways to build products, design out waste and pollution, and keep materials and resources in use for as long as possible. We’re committed to maximizing our reuse of finite resources across our operations, products, and supply chains — while empowering others to do the same.
Building for circularity
Inspired by the breakthrough work of our partners at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, our circular principles are designed to drive consistency and replicability across our business for the greatest impact. We believe that by incorporating circularity into our designs from inception, things created today can become the resources of tomorrow and enable reuse, repair, and recovery. We reuse materials at their highest environmental and social value, effectively extending the use of each resource for as long as practical, while balancing safety and quality. This helps us preserve embedded energy, labor, and materials while reducing our environmental impact.
Our workplaces
At Google, just as we focus on people when it comes to designing our products, we’re also focused on people when creating healthy, sustainable workplaces — from our San Francisco Bay Area headquarters to our offices in more than 160 international cities.
Around the world we’ve implemented strategies to minimize waste generation and identified diversion pathways that keep the waste we do generate out of landfills. In 2019, we reached 71% landfill diversion for our offices globally.
Building circular data centers
We’re committed to achieving Zero Waste to Landfill for our global data center operations by reducing the amount of waste we generate and finding better disposal options. In 2019, our global landfill diversion rate for data center operations was 90%.
Designing out waste in our server management has long been a Google priority. In 2019, 19% of components used for server upgrades were refurbished inventory. When we can’t find a new use for our equipment, we completely erase any components that store data and then resell them.
Made by Google
To keep materials flowing in commerce longer, we design them to be safe for human and environmental systems — because we can’t change the chemistry of products once we put them out in the world.
By 2025, at least 50% of plastic used across Google’s consumer hardware product portfolio will use recycled or renewable content. And we’re on track to eliminate plastic from our packaging and make all our packaging fully recyclable by that same time.1
And 100% of Made by Google products launching in 2022 and every year after will include recycled materials, with a drive to maximize recycled content wherever possible.
Supporting partners
We believe that by organizing information about our planet, and making it actionable through technology, we help people make a more positive impact together. We focus on partnerships that foster sustainability at scale.
Growing impact through business partnerships
Google has been a strategic partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation since 2015, working together on topics which range from consumer electronics and advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning to urban planning and construction.
We are also founding members of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Circular Electronics Partnership to advance a circular economy for electronic devices.
Supporting action on plastic pollution
In 2019, we joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative as a technology partner. With other participating organizations, we will scale-up solutions to end plastic waste and pollution with our technology.
In 2021, we partnered with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to develop a new machine learning model that reveals a more detailed and accurate view of plastic pollution in the areas neighboring the Mekong River in Thailand. This model can be used by local and national governments to explore policies and resources to prevent plastic leaking into waterways.
Responsible supply chains
Part of our ambition is to go beyond sourcing minerals more responsibly and actively work to end our collective reliance on raw materials. We’re also dedicated to achieving UL 2799 Zero Waste to Landfill certification for all final assembly manufacturing sites by 2022.
We’re continuing to integrate sustainability criteria into our supplier sourcing, to support our suppliers’ reporting, management, and emissions reduction processes. This data helps us set goals for our sustainability program — and to continuously improve our analyses of our supply chain GHG emissions.
Empowering people
While we work to build a circular Google, we’re also working to provide tools to help the billions of people worldwide who use our products every day.
Recycling information on Maps
Now you can find out where you can recycle or properly dispose of specific items by looking at Business Profiles on Google Maps and Search. Merchants who have verified Business Profiles on Google can easily add information about what items they recycle using Google Business Profile. You’re able to see what places accept materials — like clothing, electronics, batteries, household hazardous waste, light bulbs and glass bottles — so you know you’re keeping these items out of the landfill. Soon people who visit certain locations will be prompted to answer questions in Maps after their visit so they can let others know what types of materials can be recycled.
Your Plan, Your Planet
Your Plan, Your Planet, our award-winning interactive tool created in partnership with the California Academy of Sciences, walks users through interactive scenarios to showcase everyday examples of how small changes can make a big difference. In 2019, we expanded the tool to include a section on the circular economy and how people can extend the life of their stuff, and we released an education component as a tool for teachers. As of the end of 2019, Your Plan, Your Planet had documented more than 300,000 individual pledges for people to reduce their environmental impact.
Published white papers and environmental reports
At Google, transparency is an important component of our ambition to help others accelerate the transition to a circular economy. That’s why we routinely share research and case studies so that others may apply and build upon our knowledge and insight.
Take a deeper look: Google’s commitment to climate action
View report (opens in a new window)Read about how we’re closing the Plastics Circularity Gap
Learn more (opens in a new window)