Primary SDG Focus
Secondary SDG Focus
Please summarize your company’s SDG focus, how was that SDG was implemented and how did achieved and measured the impact.
HP is delivering Responsible Production and Consumption through its innovative and award-wining closed-loop recycling process. HP has produced more than 3.6 billion Original HP cartridges with closed-loop recycled content, and recently launched the world’s first in-class printers made from recycled printers and other electronics.
https://garage.ext.hp.com/us/en/impact/closed-loop-recycling-printers.html
https://clean50.com/project/hps-closed-loop-plastic-recycling-program/
How was your primary SDG focus identified and prioritized in the company’s value chain?
HP’s overall long-term and enduring ambition is to take responsibility for its products throughout the entire lifecycle—to understand and own the impacts of our products along the value chain. HP’s vision is to keep its products and materials in circulation for as long as possible.
How was your primary SDG integrated and anchored throughout your business?
HP developed a printing system backed by responsible production and sustainable design. Using the HP Planet Partners Recycling program as a collection source, HP created a sorting and separation process, automated to lower costs and increase material recovery and developed pure material streams as inputs into new cartridges and printers.
Were any partnerships leveraged or created?
HP and the Lavergne Group in Montreal developed a strategic business partnership which has been instrumental to the success of this endeavor. While HP has leveraged the Lavergne Group’s technical expertise, the partnership has enabled the Lavergne Group to increase their volume, expand their operations, and ultimately grown their Canadian business.
What communications strategy did you employ to share the initiative with your stakeholders?
In addition to ongoing communications across various HP platforms, HP and Best Buy developed strategic partnership to promote HP’s closed-loop recycling process for printers in-store and increase printer returns. Printers of all brands collected at Best Buy are used in the closed-loop recycling of HP printers. The joint communications push included social media, in-store advertising, online marketing, and direct mail. HP’s achievements in plastic recycling were recently featured at the 2018 Zero Waste Conference in Vancouver.
How were KPIs and the levels of success outlined and defined?
HP has kept 5,450 tractor-trailer loads of plastic from going to landfills. A 2018 lifecycle assessment showed that using recycled PET plastic in Original HP Ink cartridges, rather than virgin plastic, reduced carbon footprint by 42%, water use by 38%, and energy use by 63%. HP’s greatest success has been being able to replicate this in other products and ramping up closed-loop recycled content in HP hardware.
How were reporting and monitoring conceptualized and undertaken?
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Efficiency with materials stream are monitored and reported, helping develop pure material streams with each innovation. Today more than 80% of Original HP ink cartridges and 100% of Original HP toner cartridges are now manufactured with recycled content.
What were some key lessons learned?
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There was a significant experimentation period. Growth, combined with the fact that not all of its cartridges are returned for recycling, made HP source material from other sources. It was essential to ensure the technical performance of the recycled material to maintain customer confidence. Controlling reverse logistic routes and developing pure material streams were important pre-conditions.
What were the key impacts and results?
HP has kept over 784 million HP cartridges, 86 million apparel hangers and 4 billion postconsumer plastic bottles out of landfills, instead upcycling these materials for continued use. HP helps divert 1 million bottles per day, and partners with the First Mile Coalition in Haiti to source plastic water bottles and support education and economic opportunities.