Net Zero Australia: How Your Business Can Reduce Carbon Emissions with Refurbished IT

As businesses in Australia face increasing pressure to meet net zero Australia targets, many are looking for practical and cost-effective ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

Net Zero Australia

Net Zero is defined as the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that's produced and the amount that's removed from the atmosphere.

The Australian government has announced that it is committed to supporting global emissions reductions to reduce the impacts of climate change and will reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Additionally, many Australian businesses must now comply with climate-related financial disclosures. This includes submitting a Sustainability Report that details the company’s climate-related financial risks and opportunities, climate metrics and targets (including scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions), and information about climate-related governance, strategy, and risk management.

When looking at your company’s climate-related metrics and targets, it’s important to bear in mind that computer hardware plays a crucial role in a business’s carbon footprint. Manufacturing new computers, servers, and other IT equipment generates substantial emissions, specifically Scope 3 emissions. These include emissions that are not directly produced by the organisation and not as a result of the assets they own or control. These indirect emissions occur in a company's value chain: the various business activities and processes involved in creating a product or service.

Purchased goods and services is a Scope 3 category. So, if your company has purchased a newly manufactured server, its production is responsible for around one tonne of CO2e emissions. These are known as embodied emissions – the carbon footprint associated with an asset before it becomes operational – and they would now be part of your company’s Scope 3.

By choosing refurbished IT however, businesses can extend the lifecycle of electronic devices, significantly reducing e-waste and carbon output, and thereby reducing Scope 3 emissions.

Mandatory Carbon Reporting Australia

Australia's mandatory climate reporting requirements will be introduced gradually over the next three years for three groups of reporting entities. The first group must prepare annual sustainability reports for the financial year starting on or after 1 January 2025. The second and third groups must prepare their reports for the financial years starting on or after 1 July 2026 and 1 July 2027, respectively.

This legislation makes Australia one of the first countries to adopt mandatory standards on how climate change can affect the financial future of companies.

The European Union is leading the way with its Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which requires companies to report on a wide array sustainability-related matters.

Practical Steps to Reduce IT-Related Carbon Emissions

We at Techbuyer have made it our business to reduce energy usage, choose sustainable products and mitigate the risks of climate change in our organisation for many years. Our research into energy efficient options for enterprise IT that span configuration, bios settings and the effect of temperature have been published in a number of peer-reviewed academic journals.

We are committed to circular solutions, which reduce emissions in purchased goods and services.

Techbuyer can help with climate change actions and reporting in the following ways: