Google’s new report “A circular Google in a sustainable world” states as a mission “To accelerate the transition to a circular economy in which business creates environmental, economic, and community value through the maximum reuse of finite resources”. Objectives fixed include to “Use safer flame retardants and solvents across our consumer electronics product portfolio by 2023” (within a wider objective of promoting “healthy materials and safe chemistry to enable perpetual recycling”), as well as using “red-list free materials” in buildings, eliminating antimicrobials from electronics, reducing food waste, prioritising use of recycled materials (including of rare earth metals). This follows a 2018 Google report, with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on safe chemistry for the circular economy, in which flame retardants are cited as accumulating in breast milk. This report concludes three priority actions: increasing access to quality chemical hazard assessment data, creating demand for safer materials innovation and driving innovation in recycling technology and infrastructure.
Google sustainability reports: https://sustainability.google/reports/
“A circular Google”, June 2019 https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/circular-google.pdf
“The role of safe chemistry and healthy materials in unlocking the circular economy” 2018 https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-sustainability.appspot.com/pdf/Role-of-SafeChemistry-HealthyMaterials_CircularEconomy.pdf