How are Philips helping the environment?
In recent years, consumers have demanded transparency and sustainable practice in business. Philips have been ahead of the curb for years, having celebrated 130 years of innovation, collaboration and social responsibility in May.
From design, to packaging, to the supply chain, to the materials, to disposal – at the heart of their mission, Philips are devoted to minimising their environmental impact and supporting the communities they work in.
How are Philips helping the environment?
In 2020 Philips became 100% carbon-neutral in their operations, sourcing all of their electricity from renewable sources. Now, they’re on track to source over 75% of their total energy use from renewable sources and put zero waste into landfill by 2025.
Overconsumption of resources and an increasing amount of waste and pollution has put immense pressure on our environment. To combat this issue, Philips work through a circular economy model whereby production involves reusing, repairing and recycling to reduce waste and minimise the need for new resources.
As part of this process, Philips root sustainability in their design process, by designing products with recyclability and disassembly in mind, to reduce the environmental impact at the end of product life. They are also part of the StEP Initiative to help solve the e-waste problem by extending the life of their products and reusing electronic components.
“In 2020, we compensated emissions equivalent to the annual uptake of approximately 16 million medium-sized oak trees. This covers all emissions from our sites, our business travel and our logistics movement”.
But it doesn’t stop there. Philips implement a Life Cycle Analysis to calculate the environmental impact at each stage of product life, from the very beginning of material extraction to disposal at end of life. This ensures that they are creating the greenest technology whilst reducing their own carbon footprint. And for complete transparency, they release an Environmental Profit and Loss account every year, outlining their environmental impact.
Philips monitors are part of the Forest Nation initiative
With each purchase of a Philips monitor, a portion of the profits is donated to Forest Nation, a for-profit business on a reforestation mission. This is directly good for the environment, but it also sparks conversation and raises employee and consumer awareness.
So far, 33,871 trees have been planted, 846.78 tons of carbon dioxide has been absorbed and 1,358.84 hours of work has been created in local communities.
Philips have a strong social responsibility
As part of their ongoing mission, Philips are involved in projects that aim to improve the lives of 1,000,000 workers in their supply chain and improve the health and wellbeing of 2 billion people per year by 2025, including millions of people in undeserved communities. These projects include providing millions of litres of safe drinking water in Uganda and Ethiopia and providing access to clean energy and medicine to the Dewas region of India.
They actively support the communities that they operate in through volunteering and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) internships.
Philips monitors have also collaborated with Pact, a non-profit organisation that aims to improve responsible sourcing of minerals. With Philips’ support, Pact can give small-scale miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo the health and safety and human rights training and economic empowerment that they need.
Philips green monitors
Philips monitors are the very embodiment of their mission, ‘a Greener Tomorrow’. They are innovative monitors with eco-friendly technologies that come packaged in recyclable materials – all of which comply with strict international environmental standards. Some models are TCO Certified Edge, so they’re leading products of sustainable technology.
As global power consumption is set “to almost double by 2050”, it’s time to consider how home life and working life can be adapted to reduce energy. The LCD monitor is an example of a super energy efficient monitor with a range of energy saving features including the innovative PowerSensor and LightSensor.
PowerSensor
Whether it’s meetings, a quick coffee run or a lunch break, spending time away from the desk is inevitable. Unlike an ordinary screensaver that locks after a certain period of time, the PowerSensor feature recognises when the user leaves their desk using harmless infrared signals and immediately dims the brightness to reduce energy consumption. And when the user returns, the monitor will wake up with no delay time so the user can get back to productivity in no time.
Each time a user steps away from their desk and the monitor dims, energy consumption is reduced by up to 80%, reducing their carbon footprint and prolonging the monitors life without sacrificing crisp visuals.
LightSensor
To further reduce energy, the LightSensor uses a smart detector to sense ambient light in the room and adjust the brightness of the screen accordingly. It uses LED backlight technology which delivers brilliant brightness and colour, using significantly less energy.
And that’s not all. Philips green monitors have a Zero Power switch located at the back of the monitor which completely cuts its power. Traditional monitors consume less than 0.03 watts with the power off, but the Zero Power switch means exactly that - it consumes 0 watts.
Sustainable materials
A tremendous 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated each year so Philips have ensured that the plastic body parts, metal chassis parts and packaging of a Philips green monitor is made from 100% recyclable material. As part of their circular economy, in some models like the 241B7QGJEB/00 and the 242B1G/00, they use up to 85% of post-consumer recycled plastics.
Their slim and lightweight design means that less material is needed for packaging - reducing costs and carbon pollution. Also, as the transportation sector accounts for approximately one third of greenhouse gas emissions, their eco-friendly design means that less transport is needed to deliver the monitors.
Restriction of hazardous substances
In line with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), Philips green monitors have reduced amounts of toxic substances while models with an LED backlight are completely mercury-free and lead-free.
Philips green monitors and their overall journey from how parts are designed and created to how they are packaged and disposed of after use, offer a path to a sustainable future. Their innovative energy saving features offer the user a chance to effortlessly reduce their carbon footprint even while they’re waiting for their tea to brew.
