Lenovo ESG
Water and Waste
Our Approach
Lenovo aims to build water resiliency and to practice waste minimization, reuse, and recycling. To support these objectives, we are focused on increasing our understanding of water- and waste-related risks and being transparent in these areas by continuing to measure, analyze, and disclose our performance and improvement efforts.
Water
The majority of our water withdrawals are sourced from third-parties and the majority of our wastewater is returned to third-parties for treatment and disposal. In our direct operations, the primary use of water is for WASH services for employees, contractors and visitors in our facilities around the globe.
We monitor our water withdrawals and wastewater discharge and have this data annually verified by a third-party. The table below shows our global water withdrawal and wastewater discharge volumes for the past five fiscal years. The third-party verification statements for this data can be found on our ESG Resources webpage.
Lenovo’s Water Inventory1 (megaliters or 1000 m³) (m³)
| FY 2017/18 | FY 2018/19 | FY 2019/20 | FY 2020/21 | FY 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal | 1,385.08 | 1,391.30 | 1,307 | 1,428 | 1,567 |
| Discharge | 1,260.99 | 1,256.40 | 1,183 | 1,294 | 1,469 |
Note:
- For FY 2021/22, the data includes all of Lenovo’s manufacturing, research & development, and large office sites (>100 employees). In earlier FYs, some research & development and large office locations were excluded while Lenovo worked to increase data coverage. Small offices (< 100 employees) and retail locations are always excluded from the water reporting requirements, but a few small offices voluntarily report and are included.
One of our environmental objectives is to minimize environmental impacts associated with water withdrawal and water discharge from Lenovo operations and products. To support this, we set an annual target to maintain per person water withdrawal at sites globally, relative to the previous FY (no more than 5% increase).
In addition to maintaining operational control of our water use, we are striving for improved water resiliency. We have a corporate Water Resiliency Policy to guide our efforts in this area which can be found on our ESG Resources webpage. We perform an annual water risk mapping exercise. For more information on our water management, including our water risk mapping and water withdrawals from stressed areas, please see our most recent ESG Report or most recent CDP Water response on our ESG Resources webpage.
Waste
Our day- to- day operations around the globe generate nonhazardous waste and minimal quantities of hazardous waste. Our nonhazardous waste includes typical office and cafeteria waste, as well as packaging and manufacturing scrap at our manufacturing locations. Hazardous waste is waste designated as hazardous by applicable laws or regulations in a country, state, region, or locality and may include oils, coolants, organic solvents, batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, and ballasts.
We measure and monitor both our nonhazardous and hazardous waste generation volumes and disposal methods. Our waste generation data is annually verified by a third-party. The table below shows our global nonhazardous and hazardous waste volumes for the past five fiscal years. The third-party verification statements for this data can be found on our ESG Resources webpage.
Lenovo’s Waste Inventory1 (metric tons)
| FY 2017/18 | FY 2018/19 | FY 2019/20 | FY 2020/21 | FY 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonhazardous2 | 44,377.44 | 45,439.49 | 43,023 | 51,648 | 49,403 |
| Hazardous3 | 75.27 | 66.11 | 74 | 37 | 125 |
Notes:
- Waste data includes site waste from most manufacturing, processes and operations, research & development sites, and large offices. Waste from products is reported separately.
- E-waste generated at sites is also included in PELM data.
- Batteries collected at sites are also included in the PELM data.
One of our environmental objectives is to minimize environmental impacts associated with solid waste generated from Lenovo operations and products. To support this, we set an annual target to direct 90 percent (+/-5 percent) of Lenovo’s global nonhazardous waste to recovery operations. For more information on our waste management, please see our most recent ESG Report.
Other Emissions
Lenovo’s baseline environmental engineering specification prohibits the use of ozone-depleting substances in our products and manufacturing process1 and Lenovo does not have significant (as defined by the Significant Environmental Aspect process conducted annually under our Environmental Management System) direct air emissions such as NOx, SOx, or particulate matter (PM). In addition, Lenovo has no wet chemical or industrial processes that use volatile organic compounds (VOCs)2 and thus no point sources of VOC.
1 Our only use of ozone-depleting substances is in HVAC and fire-suppression equipment as permitted by law. They are managed in accordance with local requirements and intentional releases are prohibited.
2 Household and cleaning products that contain small quantities of VOCs are used at some of our facilities, but associated fugitive emissions are minimal and are not quantified.
