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Originally published in Qualcomm's 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report
Through our Environmental Program Management Standard, we focus on identifying activities, services and processes that generate waste and strive to reduce the impact of our waste disposal practices on the environment. Our operations generate various types of waste, including general solid waste, hazardous and regulated waste and e-waste, including network infrastructure equipment. Our approach to waste management involves reuse and recycling programs to help us decrease the amount of waste we send to landfills. It also comprises the development of initiatives to reduce our overall waste footprint and the promotion of less toxic, more durable, reusable and recycled materials in our operations. A variety of our business units lead our waste recycling and management programs. They include:
- Real Estate and Facilities (QREF): Our QREF and site support teams manage general solid waste at our sites, as well as manage surplus office furniture. The team works with service providers to measure waste and implement programs to encourage waste reduction, recycling and composting.
- EHS: Our EHS group manages hazardous and other regulated waste generated by various business operations. EHS also provides guidance to various business units regarding the recycling of batteries and e-waste and the management of other regulated wastes.
- IT: Our IT group works with several qualified e-waste recyclers to manage electronics recycling. The team is also active in donating computer equipment to local charities and schools.
We continue our efforts to minimize the impacts of hazardous waste by using less toxic material, where possible, and reducing the amount generated. Our disposition approach is recycling or reuse, followed by physical treatment or disposal in an appropriate landfill, as a last resort.
We strive to prioritize our waste mitigation efforts to reduce the number of materials going to landfills. To support this effort, we revamped our internal waste data collection system to increase data availability and accuracy. We also retrained our data providers and supporting vendors to follow our waste data collection processes and practices. By taking these actions, we will have better visibility of our total waste generated and be in a position to identify waste diversion solutions, as well as improve our waste management activities.
“Our approach to waste management involves reuse and recycling programs to help us decrease the amount of waste we send to landfills."
