Let’s talk to our CEO Sören Enholm about what made him engage in sustainable IT and how TCO Certified has affected him. Sören is a central person in our certification engine and has a strong personal engagement in sustainability. I met up with him to find out more.
What are your passions and what motivates you?
I love cross-country skiing, bicycling in the mountains or being in a kayak at sea. Exercising and being out in beautiful surroundings is the ultimate combination for me. This is also the reason why I have a great interest in sustainability. Seeing plastics and other trash in the water and forests makes me really sad, and the warmer winters make it harder to pursue my favorite leisure activities. I want to change this. It’s hard to change the whole society, but we can all do things to contribute. Some are not even difficult. I’m really motivated in making this happen and to get others to join the journey.
What is your background?
I studied computer science and some behavioral sciences and philosophy at the university. I was also interested in natural resource management and environmental science, but at that time they didn’t offer any courses of interest at the university I went to. After university, I worked in the IT industry for many years in both technical, sales and marketing roles. During these years my interest in sustainability has always been at the back of my head, and when this opportunity at TCO Development turned up it was the perfect match for me. To lead the organization behind the sustainability certification and create a future where all IT products have an environmentally and socially responsible life cycle.
Which achievements in TCO Certified’s history are you most proud of?
I think it was a great achievement to establish TCO Certified as a global certification and brand almost 30 years ago. That was a huge effort for the early pioneers at TCO Development and a fantastic achievement. In more recent years I’m most proud that TCO Certified is still a strong global driver for more sustainable IT products and working proactively with environmental and social issues in the IT industry. The technical developments in the market are quick, and it’s a challenge not only to keep up with it but also to be a driver. We have built up a team with lots of expert knowledge and experience so we can be a driver and continue to push the industry to take further steps for more sustainable products. We have insightful dialogues with both independent scientists as well as industry experts, and turn this into meaningful and driving sustainability criteria in TCO Certified. We have also made the brand more known globally with a big community of supporters among the people involved in purchasing IT products for their organizations. This is also a great achievement and makes me really proud.
What are the largest challenges for IT products moving forward?
The IT product market is very much based on our traditional linear economy. We make them, use them and throw them away in an ever-increasing amount. This is as far from sustainable you can get. A change needs to take place, a move from a linear to a circular approach. This is a huge challenge since our society is based on a traditional linear economy. Today TCO Certified is a driver for making things a little better in the current economic model, but the vision is of course to make IT products a natural part of a circular economy. This requires huge changes not only for the big IT companies but also for all of us using IT products. We need to get used to buying IT equipment as a service, and the IT companies need to change their core business models to make this happen. This will help the IT companies to focus on keeping the existing IT products in use as long as possible, instead of just putting new products on the market with extensive use of precious materials and other natural resources. This will also help reduce the growing challenges associated with electronic waste.
In another 30 years’ time, what would you like to be able to say in terms of progress for more sustainable IT products?
Our vision is an environmentally and socially sustainable life cycle for IT products. In 30 years I’d like to see that we have taken a great step in this direction. I expect IT products to be manufactured with great consciousness both for the use of natural resources and with zero pollution. I also expect the factory workers to have good working conditions focusing on making manufacturing more sustainable rather than tedious and monotonous tasks putting products together. Those tasks should be automated. After a long product life (at least 10 years) I expect all components to be reused in other appliances. Finally, I expect that we don’t put hazardous substances in the products so that all materials are recovered when the products and components can’t be used any longer.
Cassandra is our Global PR and Communication Manager and has more than 10 years of experience of driving sustainable change through communication and external relations building. She has won the Swedish national rugby championship several times, and climbed both Mount Fuji and Mount Kilimanjaro.
