Environmental compliance
Devices and packaging
Conserve, reuse and recycle
Where feasible, we conserve natural resources by using recycled and renewable materials, increasing energy efficiency, repairing and refurbishing products and supporting product recycling programmes.
Reduction and disposal of waste
We reduce and, where possible, eliminate waste at our facilities by designing out waste and reusing and recycling materials. All our waste is handled and disposed of via safe and environmentally responsible methods.
Sustainable products and packaging
Our environmental policies and practices aim to protect the world’s natural resources and ensure the wellbeing of our customers and communities. We use Microsoft digital technology to manage our impacts and we design our products and services to enable our customers to do the same.
Continually improve our performance
We set challenging objectives and targets to improve our environmental performance and management systems. We engage our employees and regularly review our business activities, programmes, practices and goals to drive progress at scale. We proactively manage environmental risks and opportunities, and we collaborate with suppliers to reduce impacts across the value chain.
Responsibly source raw materials
We are committed to responsibly sourcing our raw materials as per our Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials Policy. We collaborate with industry groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders to establish responsible practices in the harvesting and extraction of raw materials across the value chain.
Demonstrate responsibility and transparency
We engage with stakeholders to shape our environmental objectives and targets and we communicate progress to our board, shareholders, customers and members of the public.
The results of an LCA depend on the calculation method, scope and assumptions used. Thus, assessments of different producers are not comparable even though general LCA standards are available. We use the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, complemented by ETSI TS 103 199 and ITU-T L.1410, as a framework for our calculations. Our LCA calculations include the entire lifecycle, from raw material acquisition through end-of-life disposal.
Over time, we evaluate different LCA methodologies, tools and databases. As the LCAs, devices and technologies are continuously evolving, our LCA results represent our best understanding of LCA impacts at the time of publication and are revised when needed.
Our LCAs cover the product, its retail packaging and its power supply unit, unless otherwise specified in the Ecoprofile. LCAs are cradle-to-grave, meaning that we include the entire lifecycle of the product: manufacturing, distribution to customer, product use and end-of-life treatment. The manufacturing stage includes extraction of raw materials, upstream materials preparation, electronic component manufacturing, subassembly manufacturing and assembly and final assembly. For our LCA calculations for Surface products, we assume that the products are in use for three years. In the calculations for Xbox consoles, we assume five years of use. The use phase accounts for both active and idle time usage (for example, when the device is energised but not in active use). For the transportation phase, both inbound and outbound logistics are included. The recycling phase calculations cover activities up to and including shredding of materials. The environmental impacts of other accessories are not included but may be reported separately. Software and hardware design impacts are captured in our corporate carbon footprint and excluded from the individual product LCA calculations.
We apply EPEAT standards to our Surface devices. EPEAT is the leading global ecolabel for the IT sector, managed by the Green Electronics Council. The programme requires independent verification of product and corporate eco-attributes. We are continuously working to improve the EPEAT registration level of our Devices. These ratings are used by customers to make purchasing decisions based on product and corporate environmental and social attributes. We track progress against EPEAT targets across our entire Surface portfolio. Surface registered products can be found on the EPEAT Registry.
The Microsoft Environmental Management System (EMS) is certified by an independent third party to meet the ISO 14001 standard, which is an internationally recognised framework that establishes a process for entities to manage and continuously improve their environmental performance. Microsoft also requires its contract manufacturers and suppliers of critical components to have an EMS in place.
Ecoprofiles for Xbox consoles and Surface devices are located in our download centre.
Compliance information, including Product Declarations of Conformity, our environmental compliance letter, REACH declaration, Energy Star documentation, MIL-STD-810G qualification and safety information for our Devices can be found on our Product Environmental and Safety Documents page. You can search by product name, document type or model number to access the relevant compliance information.
See our environmental information pages to learn more about service options for your Microsoft Device, battery replacement, packaging content, product environmental life-cycle assessments and information for recyclers.
Surface Book 2 13.5-inch environmental information (PDF)
Surface Book 2 15-inch environmental information (PDF)
Surface Book 3 13.5-inch environmental information (PDF)
Surface Book 3 15-inch environmental information (PDF)
Surface Pro 5 and Surface Pro 6 environmental information (PDF)
Surface Go environmental information (PDF)
Surface Go 2 environmental information (PDF)
Surface Pro 7 environmental information (PDF)
Surface Pro X environmental information (PDF)
Surface Laptop 3 environmental information (PDF)