Arris, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei and ZTE, as well as recycling and refurbishing specialists Drake & Farrell and Teleplan have all signed the KPN Circular Manifesto. This means they agree to how hardware and networks should be built by 2025, including in more energy efficient ways. These suppliers represent about 20 percent of KPN’s current hardware-related spend for network and customer fixed line services. This percentage is expected to grow as KPN brings more suppliers and partners on board.
With the manifesto, KPN also outlines its goal to minimize its carbon and environmental footprint even as the volume of data traffic grows exponentially. In addition to the manifesto, the carrier has also signed individual agreements with each of the suppliers outlining the focus areas of collaboration between the individual company and KPN.
KPN has been climate neutral since 2015 and has lowered its annual energy consumption for six consecutive years through to 2016 while absorbing an eight-fold increase in data volume during that same time. Recently recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) as the world’s most sustainable telecommunications company, KPN said it is on track to reduce its energy consumption by 50 percent by 2030, compared with 2010. This target takes into account the expected continued exponential growth in data traffic amid the increased digitization of society and the expected growth of the Internet of Things. KPN currently accounts for 0.8% of Dutch electricity consumption. KPN believes that smart ICT systems will help to significantly reduce energy consumption, CO2 emissions and the use of natural resources.
KPN said its circular economy target supports the Netherlands in its objective of transitioning towards a circular economy by 2050.
