Welcome to the digital health revolution | HP Innovation Journal

On August 8, 2016, viewers around the world watched as swimmer Ryan Murphy of the U.S., weightlifter Sukanya Srisurat of Thailand, and marksman Niccolo Campriani of Italy set Olympic records during the Games in Rio. While millions saw the competitions, most didn’t notice another, more significant record that was set that day. According to the Global Footprint Network, August 8 represented this year’s Earth Overshoot Day—the day on the calendar when humankind has used all the renewable natural resources that the planet can replenish in a whole year. What’s even more disturbing is that this year’s milestone occurred four months earlier than it did three decades ago in 1981.

The Global Footprint Network has calculated that today it would take the natural resources of 1.6 Earths to sustain all the demands of humankind, and that carbon emissions account for 60 percent of humanity’s demands on nature. And the problem is expected to increase, as the UN estimates the world’s population to surge from 7.3 billion to 11.2 billion by 2100. These statistics highlight why governments and companies like HP are committed to taking action to lower greenhouse gas emissions in support of the UN’s climate agreement signed in Paris in December 2015.

HP has long recognized the need to analyze the impact that our company, and the products and solutions we build, have on the planet—and work to reduce that impact. All while creating solutions that make the world more sustainable. Our sustainability strategy integrates the environment, society, and integrity into what we do and deliver every day.

• Conducting business and engineering solutions to the highest ethical principles, such as adhering to strict, industry-leading standards that protect workers throughout our supply chain.
• Carefully choosing the materials we use in our products as well as those we don't.
• Developing solutions that perform efficiently and effectively throughout their entire lifecycle.
• Creating solutions that empower people around the world to do amazing things that make life better for everyone, everywhere.

This work is core to HP’s business strategy and contributes directly to our customers’ success. As HP President and CEO Dion Weisler has stated, "We believe sustainability is a powerful force for growth and innovation, in the world and at HP. It guides how we do business and drives the way our products are designed, made, used, and regenerated. And it is a focal point as we reinvent our business models and operations toward a materials and energy-efficient circular economy."

And people have taken notice. Most recently, HP ranked number 17 on Gartner’s 2016 Supply Chain Top 25 list, and HP gained a perfect 10 for our corporate social responsibility efforts.

For many people, recycling is the simplest circular economy concept to understand. The notion that everyday products, such as soda bottles, can be collected, recycled, and turned into new bottles is pretty straightforward. But recycling products, such as PCs, printers, or cartridges, is more complex.

HP has been a recycling leader for decades, developing innovations that enable us to reduce our products' environmental impact and meet our customers’ demands to reduce waste. For example, 25 years ago the company launched the HP Planet Partners return and recycling program. Through this program, we have collected more than 3.3 billion pounds of hardware and supplies—the equivalent weight of more than 150 Eiffel Towers.

HP Planet Partners facilitates another ground-breaking innovation—our closed loop recycle program that allows us to use millions of pounds of plastic to create original ink and toner cartridges. Through this program, we have manufactured more than 3 billion ink cartridges using more than 177 million pounds of recycled content material—including returned cartridges, more than 3.3 billion plastic bottles, and 50 million apparel hangers. Today we are helping divert on average more than 1 million plastic bottles per day from landfills.

But the circular economy is about more than just recycling. For HP it means extending the life of our products by creating modular designs that are easy to maintain. A prime example of this design philosophy is the HP Elite x2 1012 G1 tablet, which comes with online repair documentation and readily-available parts. The tablet is so easy to service, that ifixit.org gave the system its highest repairability score, 10 out of 10.

That same innovative spirit can be seen in our service-based solutions, which are helping customers save money and lower their environmental impact. Solutions such as Managed Print Services (MPS) and Device-as-a-Service provide customers with access to the latest technologies, allowing them to scale up or down as their business grows or shrinks and ensuring that resources are not wasted through equipment reuse, refurbishment, or recycling. For example, MPS customers can see up to a 40 percent reduction in printing-related energy usage and paper waste reductions of 20 percent or more.

Similarly HP Instant Ink, a consumer-based subscription service, reduces costs by up to 50 percent, while ensuring that customers never run out of ink at the wrong time. Through this service model, ink subscription printers use up to 67 percent less materials per printed page than conventional business models.

And as we adapt our business models, we keep the environment in mind. For example, while we continue to reinvent printing, we also recognize the increased importance to source paper responsibly. This is one of the reasons that in June 2016, we set a goal to meet our objective of zero deforestation, in which all HP brand paper and paper-based product packaging¹ will be derived from certified and recycled sources by 2020.

And HP will continue to innovate with disruptive technologies such as 3D printing that will transform how whole industries work. For example, using 3D printers to manufacture spare parts or fully assembled products, companies will be able to perfectly match supply with demand. This will reduce waste and the need for physical inventories of thousands of parts and products that are stored for later use—or worse never used at all.

HP believes that by reinventing how they make, use, and regenerate technology—businesses, communities, and individuals can thrive. HP’s approach to the circular economy—one in which we build on our industry leadership in environmental design, materials innovation, energy efficiency, and product reuse and recycling—is one way to help both HP and customers meet their business and environmental objectives.