Environmental compliance
Microsoft devices and packaging fulfill legal and government requirements for environmental compliance and ecofriendly performance.
EPEAT Registry
Find Surface registered productsEnvironmental management system
Find environmental management certificationsEnvironmental and safety documentation
Find environmental documentationReduce, reuse, recover
Where feasible, we conserve natural resources by using recycled and renewable materials, increasing energy efficiency, repairing and refurbishing products, and supporting product recycling programs.
Reduction and disposal of wastes
We reduce and, where possible, eliminate waste at our facilities by designing out waste and reusing and recycling materials. All our waste is handled and disposed of via safe and environmentally responsible methods.
Sustainable products and packaging
Our environmental policies and practices aim to protect the world’s natural resources and ensure the well-being of our customers and communities. We use Microsoft digital technology to manage our impacts and we design our products and services to enable our customers to do the same.
Continually improve our performance
We set challenging objectives and targets to improve our environmental performance and management systems. We engage our employees and regularly review our business activities, programs, practices, and goals to drive progress at scale. We proactively manage environmental risks and opportunities, and we collaborate with suppliers to reduce impacts across the value chain.
Responsibly source raw materials
We are committed to responsibly sourcing our raw materials as per our Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials Policy. We collaborate with industry groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders to establish responsible practices in the harvesting and extraction of raw materials across the value chain.
Demonstrate responsibility and transparency
We engage with stakeholders to shape our environmental objectives and targets and we communicate progress to our Board, shareholders, customers, and members of the public.
The results of an LCA depend on the calculation method, scope, and assumptions used. Thus, assessments of different producers are not comparable even though general LCA standards are available. We use the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, complemented by ETSI TS 103 199 and ITU-T L.1410, as a framework for our calculations. Our LCA calculations include the entire lifecycle, from raw material acquisition through end-of-life disposal.
Over time, we evaluate different LCA methodologies, tools, and databases. As the LCAs, devices, and technologies are continuously evolving, our LCA results represent our best understanding of LCA impacts at the time of publication and are revised when needed.
Our LCAs cover the product, its retail packaging, and its power supply unit, unless otherwise specified in the Ecoprofile. LCAs are cradle-to-grave, meaning that we include the entire lifecycle of the product: manufacturing, distribution to customer, product use, and end-of-life treatment. The manufacturing stage includes extraction of raw materials, upstream materials preparation, electronic component manufacturing, subassembly manufacturing and assembly, and final assembly. For our LCA calculations for Surface products, we assume that the products are in use for three years. In the calculations for Xbox consoles, we assume five years of use. The use phase accounts for both active and idle time usage (for example, when the device is energized but not in active use). For the transportation phase, both inbound and outbound logistics are included. The recycling phase calculations cover activities up to and including shredding of materials. The environmental impacts of other accessories are not included but may be reported separately. Software and hardware design impacts are captured in our corporate carbon footprint and excluded from the individual product LCA calculations.
We apply EPEAT standards to our Surface devices. EPEAT is the leading global ecolabel for the IT sector, managed by the Green Electronics Council. The program requires independent verification of product and corporate eco-attributes. We are continuously working to improve the EPEAT registration level of our Devices. These ratings are used by customers to make purchasing decisions based on product and corporate environmental and social attributes. We track progress against EPEAT targets across our entire Surface portfolio. Surface registered products can be found on the EPEAT Registry.
The Microsoft Environmental Management System (EMS) is certified by an independent third party to meet the ISO 14001 standard, which is an internationally recognized framework that establishes a process for entities to manage and continuously improve their environmental performance. Microsoft also requires its contract manufacturers and suppliers of critical components to have an EMS in place.Our ISO certificate can be found on the Environmental management system page.
Ecoprofiles for Xbox consoles and Surface devices are located in our download center.
Compliance information, including Product Declarations of Conformity, our environmental compliance letter, REACH declaration, Energy Star documentation, MIL-STD-810 qualification, and safety information for our Devices can be found on our Product Environmental and Safety Documents page. You can search by product name, document type, or model number to access the relevant compliance information.
Microsoft provides an annual EPEAT Report (PDF) summarizing labor and occupational, health, and safety audit results for Microsoft suppliers that produce or assemble Microsoft Surface Devices per criteria 4.10.1.1 and 4.10.1.2 of EPEAT Std IEEE Std 1680.1a™-2020.
Climate change
Microsoft has signed the United Nations’ 1.5-degree Business Ambition Pledge. In January 2020, Microsoft announced that it will be carbon negative by 2030. As part of this commitment, we will reduce our emissions by more than half across our business and supply chain. We have set a science-based target to reduce our Scope 3 carbon emissions. To reach our goals, we are focused on using carbon emission data, quantified by lifecycle assessments, to enable informed decision-making regarding the materials used, design, and manufacturing techniques to identify hot spots and reduce carbon emissions.
Waste commitment
On August 4, 2020, we announced ambitious goals to be zero waste by 2030 across our direct operations, products, and packaging. Taking a circular approach to materials management reduces waste and carbon emissions and keeps products and materials in use longer.
Our zero-waste goal addresses all solid waste generated across our direct waste footprint from operations to products and packaging. By 2030, we will achieve at least 90 percent diversion of solid waste from landfill and incineration in campuses and owned datacenters, 100 percent recyclable Microsoft Surface devices, Xbox consoles and accessories, and packaging (in OECD countries) and, at a minimum, 75 percent diversion of construction and demolition waste for all projects.
Electronics Management
Microsoft is a member of over 150 recycling programs worldwide, covering electronics, batteries, and packaging. Follow this link for more information - End-of-life management and recycling.
Devices safety and eco
Sustainability of our products begins with design