IBM strives to conserve resources across its operations. Two examples are water and materials conservation.
Water conservation
Preserving water resources and safeguarding watersheds are important environmental protection priorities. IBM's first water conservation goal was established in 2000 and has evolved over time as our company has transformed into a hybrid cloud and AI platform company.
IBM's water conservation goal is to achieve year-to-year reductions in water withdrawals at larger IBM locations and data centers in water-stressed regions. In 2021, withdrawals at these locations decreased by 1.2% versus 2020. IBM's primary use of water at locations subject to this goal is cooling and humidity control at offices and data centers (40% of total water withdrawals), irrigation (31% of total water withdrawals), and domestic water use in the workplace (29% of total water withdrawals).
For more information, please see the "Conservation and biodiversity" section of our latest report on our environmental reporting webpage.
Materials conservation and reuse
In addition to its waste avoidance and management programs, IBM has a wide range of initiatives that conserve materials through reuse and recycling in the company's products and in its procurement of paper and paper/wood-based packaging. For more information, visit our Product recycling programs and Protective product packaging webpages.