Environmental Sustainability

The RBA produced its first comprehensive guidance on greenhouse gas management to assist members and their suppliers in living into new requirements set forth in VAP 7.0; primarily that all companies measure, publicly report, and set reduction targets for their Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

The inclusion of these essential practices deep within supply chains is even more critical as companies at all tiers seek to reduce the carbon footprint of their products and supply chains. The ability for the RBA to embed and verify these practices goes a long way toward empowering members to fulfill their sustainability strategies and potentially go carbon neutral or net zero.

The RBA Greenhouse Gas Management Guide makes leading global practices more accessible to facilities of all levels of maturity, accompanying technical guidance with case studies and resources. The six chapters of the RBA Greenhouse Gas Management Guide include all required practices of RBA members and their suppliers, as well as aspirational objectives like Scope 3 accounting. In the coming year, the RBA will build upon this fundamental technical guidance with more complementary tools that continue to ease the implementation of these practices.

Throughout 2021, the RBA explored ways to connect deeper tiers of supply chains to the resources and expertise that are most readily available to OEMs. The Alliance for Water Stewardship’s Water Risk in the ICT Sector report is an example of where the RBA worked with members and industry experts to analyze further tiers of supply chains, in this case locational data, so that insightful water risk analysis could identify potential watersheds for current and future water shortages or quality challenges. The RBA will continue to work with partners to refine these practices, while also looking for more ways to leverage the wealth of data and participation from members so that supply chains become more visible and sustainable.

COP26 IN GLASGOW, SCOTLAND

RBA staff shared industry success stories and perspectives at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland in November of 2021. The RBA participated in a number of activities including the Tech for Climate Action event hosted in partnership with the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA UK) and COP26 E-Alliance & Partners. The multiday event included an exhibition, an environmental conference, a CEO panel, and the COP26 Compass Award ceremony.

RBA CEO Rob Lederer delivered the keynote address at the Tech for Climate Action environmental conference, where he stressed the importance of collaboration and technology in addressing climate impacts throughout the global supply chain. He also talked about the circular economy as a way to meet climate, responsible business conduct, and capacity-

building goals. He later joined other executives for a panel discussion on key challenges and opportunities for industry to address climate challenges.

The Tech for Climate Action event was capped by the COP26 Compass Awards ceremony in the evening of November 5. Three RBA members won awards: Microsoft for Environmental Leadership, BT for Innovation, and Nokia for Capacity-Building.

CIRCULAR MATERIALS

The RBA Circular Materials Landscape Assessment published in 2021 revealed that while many members expect circular supply chains to lower their carbon footprints and help them live into their sustainability strategies, reclaimed materials represent a significant risk due to the lack of transparency these reverse supply chains provide.

Alongside the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP), the RBA facilitated conversations on how to scale secondary material markets that practice responsible environmental health and safety practices established in the RBA Code of Conduct. The six recommended actions generated were included in the Circular Electronics Partnership’s 2030 Roadmap, which outlines actions for the electronics industry and encourages the private sector to commit to a roadmap action that contributes toward the industry’s advancement into the circular economy.

The RBA’s own efforts to establish a supply chain environmental and social governance assurance system for all end-of-life processes, starting in 2022, has been accepted as an affiliated CEP project. This distinction recognizes that the RBA’s efforts will create impact not only among its own members, but for the industry and circular economy at large.

Until the same level of assurance, due diligence and visibility that is available in manufacturing supply chains is also available in reverse supply chains, certain circular economy principles will never become viable for the industry. The RBA is pleased to help lead its members in exploring and establishing RBA principles into new supply chains that are increasingly necessary for the industry to embrace in order to live into their global stewardship goals.

In a truly circular electronics system, all recyclers are seen as the upstream suppliers of materials for manufacturers. The RBA envisions a circular and ethical supply chain for electronics, where incentives are aligned across the value chain to ensure products and materials circulate at their highest value for as long as possible, and responsible environmental, social, and health and safety practices are assured. The RBA can play a key role in bringing together stakeholders across the electronics value chain, galvanizing the collaboration and innovation required to achieve this vision for a circular electronics system.

Barriers to Circular Supply Chain Design from the RBA Circular Materials Landscape Assessment: 1. Recycled materials need to compete with virgin materials on the market 2. Hazardous materials are difficult to track and monitor, particularly when recycling electronics with long lifetimes 3. Stakeholders across the electronics value chain are hesitant to engage with the informal sector 4. Producers and manufacturers can’t see the reverse supply chain as their upstream