IBM established its product design for the environment (DfE) program in 1991 to bring additional focus to the corporate environmental policy objectives on product environmental design and performance. Throughout the 1990s and continuing through today, IBM has introduced many industry-leading practices in design for the environment, product environmental metrics and product recycling. The company’s DfE program is incorporated into IBM’s worldwide Environmental Management System (EMS) which is certified to the ISO 14001 EMS standard.
The DfE program provides IBM’s business organizations with direction and goals, infrastructure, tools and expertise to apply environmental life cycle considerations to IBM’s products, from product concept through product end-of-life management. The objectives of IBM’s DfE program include:
- Develop products that are durable, and with consideration for their ability to be repaired, upgraded, refurbished, or remanufactured to extend product life.
- Develop products with consideration for their reuse, dismantle-ability, recyclability and recoverability at the end of product life.
- Develop products that can safely be disposed of at the end of product life, including the ability to easily remove hazardous components and assemblies prior to scrapping and disposal.
- Develop and manufacture products that use recycled or renewable materials where they are technically and economically justifiable.
- Develop products that are increasingly energy efficient.
- Develop products that minimize resource use and environmental impacts through selection of environmentally preferred materials and finishes.
These objectives are implemented through internal standards, product specifications, and other requirements in IBM’s offering management process.
The IBM Engineering Specification (ES 46G3772) establishes the baseline environmental requirements for supplier deliverables to IBM. Other IBM specifications, contracts or procurement documents may contain additional environmental requirements for suppliers. ES 46G3772 contains restrictions on materials in products and on certain chemicals used in manufacturing. It also requires suppliers to disclose information about the content of certain materials in their products. In addition, the specification includes requirements for batteries, marking of plastic parts, and other product labeling requirements. Questions about this specification should be referred to your IBM Procurement representative.
IBM has robust processes and state-of-the-art tools to help ensure our continued compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations worldwide. Design and compliance controls, including a specification for Baseline Environmental Requirements for Supplier Deliverables to IBM, a Product Content Declaration for IBM Suppliers (PCD) and compliance assessment protocols, are managed by an interdisciplinary team with representatives from IBM organizations that design, manufacture, procure, deliver and service our product offerings. The team's activities are coordinated by IBM's Center of Excellence for Product Environmental Compliance.
Frequent verification of product data is required to maintain compliance of parts and products relative to both IBM's product environmental requirements and the latest regulatory requirements. IBM conducts quality audits of PCDs to drive improvements in the content of the declarations and the supporting administrative processes. Improvements in data management regarding the materials contained in IBM's products ensure that IBM's technical documentation for product hardware meets the quality requirements described within European Norm 50581: "Technical documentation for the assessment of electrical and electronic products with respect to the restriction of hazardous substances." Going forward and in line with the five year transition period, IBM will migrate to the new European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) International Standard EN IEC 63000:2018.
Suppliers of materials, parts and products to IBM must provide information to verify the compliance of their products to IBM's environmental requirements. The Product Content Declaration for IBM Suppliers below can be used to document the environmental data necessary to establish compliance of procured materials, parts and products to IBM Engineering Specification 46G3772: Baseline Environmental Requirements for Supplier Deliverables to IBM.
At IBM, we take a precautionary approach in selecting materials that we use in our products and processes, endeavoring to select materials that are safe for their intended use and that have the least impact on the environment. As a result, IBM has proactively prohibited or restricted the use of many hazardous substances in our products and processes well in advance of potential regulatory actions.
IBM does not procure large amounts of materials for use in the company’s products and operations. The majority of IBM’s materials use comes in the form of components and parts incorporated into IBM’s hardware products. Raw materials that are directly procured by IBM for use in products include metals used in systems enclosures and plastics used for structural parts internal to products as well as for decorative accents on enclosures. Most of our products, based on weight, consist of metals which contain significant amounts of recycled content and are readily recycled at end of life. Metrics IBM focuses on include sourcing of certain critical materials, reuse, recycling and disposition of products at end of life.
IBM products are designed to so that they can be reused, recycled or disposed of properly at the end of their useful lives.
For more than 20 years, we have pursued the goal of enhancing the computing power delivered per kilowatt-hour of energy consumed for each of our new server products, compared to their equivalent predecessors with a valid upgrade path. Our designs focus on energy efficiency resulting in reduced costs, incorporating recycled and eco-friendly materials, and facilitating reuse and recycling at the end of a product’s life.
Product Carbon Footprint Reports
IBM Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) reports offer an estimate of the GHG emissions linked to the entire lifecycle of a particular IBM product. These reports aid clients in understanding the environmental implications of their technology decisions, enabling them to make more informed choices. The reports explicitly identify the specific IBM product or system under analysis.
IBM is a member of the Product Attributes to Impact Algorithm (PAIA) Consortium, which aims to develop standardized methods for assessing the environmental impact of products.
Enterprise Servers
In 2Q 2025, IBM launched its new IBM z17 and IBM LinuxONE 5 enterprise servers. With features like the Telum II processor, built-in IBM watsonx tools, z/OS 3.2 and/or the latest Linux distributions, and the forthcoming IBM Spyre™ AI Accelerator, they deliver reduced power usage, scalability, cutting-edge AI capabilities, and robust security, all without negatively impacting performance or TCO. Key sustainability features include:
- Improved system capacity: The largest IBM z17, model Max208, improves maximum system capacity per kW by approximately 22% compared to the largest IBM z16, model Max200, under a worst-case scenario.
- AI-driven workload optimization ensures efficient hardware utilization.
- Workload consolidation reduces physical infrastructure needs, aligning with global sustainability goals.
System capacity based on LSPR data available at ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-z-large-systems-performance-reference. Power consumption is computed using the Power Estimation Tool for 3931 and Power Estimation Tool for 9175, available at ibm.com/support/resourcelink/api/content/public/PowerEstimationTool-legacy.html. Uses worst-case power conditions with the absolute maximum system power configuration at the maximum utilization and for the system environment driven maximum power condition. Results may vary.
ENERGY STAR
In 1992, IBM became a charter member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR Computer Program, collaborating with the EPA to establish energy efficiency criteria for computers and monitors. In 2024, we had 5 enterprise servers and 7 storage products certified to this program’s specifications.
For a list of IBM’s ENERGY STAR certified servers and storage products, please visit:
IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator
IBM, in collaboration with Intel, has developed the IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator — a tool designed to empower organizations in monitoring and managing GHG emissions associated with their IBM Cloud workloads. This solution provides detailed, standards-based GHG emissions data, enabling users to visualize and track emissions across various cloud services and locations. It allows businesses to identify patterns, anomalies and emission hotspots within their IT operations. Armed with this information, organizations can implement targeted strategies to optimize energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprint.
In 2021, we set a goal to eliminate nonessential plastic packaging from our logo hardware products by 2024. For essential plastic packaging, our goal is to ensure such packaging is designed to be 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable, or incorporates 30% or more recycled content where technically feasible. These requirements have been integrated into our product packaging specifications for suppliers.
Most of the packaging material used for IBM logo products is cellulose-based (e.g., timber, corrugated cardboard) and procured from suppliers that certify it is sourced from sustainably managed forests. Small amounts of primary packaging are plastic, used mainly to protect IBM logo products from moisture during handling and shipment or physical damage from shock and vibration of fragile systems. In addition, ancillary plastic packaging is used to help secure and consolidate loads for shipment.
In total, we completed 18 projects from 2021 to 2024, 5 of which occurred in 2024, which eliminated or replaced the use of an estimated 119 mt per year of virgin plastic materials. One project remained outstanding at year-end 2024, which will be completed in 2025.