A Circular Google

1 A circular Google in a sustainable world

2 We need to disrupt the waste economy

3 Setting a new direction

4 How do we get there?

4 Design out waste and pollution
4 Keep products and materials in use
4 Promote healthy materials and safe chemistry

5 Starting the journey to a circular Google

5 Data centers
5 Workplaces
6 Consumer electronics
7 Enabling others

8 Our theory of change

9 How to make a circular system

9 Define scope and boundaries
9 Understand flows
9 Set sub-goals

13 Goals to change the flows

13 Design out waste and pollution
13 Keep products and materials in use
13 Promote healthy materials and safe chemistry

14 Can we do this?
14 Going beyond today
15 To change everything will take everyone
A circular Google in a sustainable world

At Google, we believe that the path to a cleaner, healthier future begins with the small
decisions we make each day. That’s why we’re committed to building sustainability into
everything we do, making smart use of the earth’s resources, and creating products with
people and the planet in mind. We constantly look for ways to have a positive environmental
impact and be even more responsible in our use of energy, water, and other natural
resources—and we want to empower others to do the same. Operating our business in an
environmentally sustainable way has always been a core value. We think there’s a lot to be
proud of—but there’s also a lot more important work to do. We remain more committed than
ever to the environment and will continue working hard for a cleaner, and a better future for
the generations to come.
We also recognize that realizing a sustainable world means that we must accelerate
the transition to a circular economy. We must become a circular Google. Our circular
Google strategy is part of our wider effort to build sustainability into everything we do.
The work behind our circularity strategy largely sits within our vision for a carbon-free
and circular world, but by its very nature, draws from and contributes to other aspects of
our sustainability strategy. Through our products and services, we can increase access
to information and empower Google users with technology that can help reduce their
environmental impact. There is also a clear link between transitioning to a circular Google
and how it can benefit people and places where we operate by regenerating the natural
systems we rely upon.

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We need to disrupt the waste People love stuff. This truism was proven during the 20th Century, as global raw material

economy use rose at twice the rate of our population growth.1 By 2018, humanity’s consumption of
resources such as metals, timber and even land would require 1.7 planet Earths to sustain.2
Is our demand for ‘stuff’ inherently unsustainable, or is the real problem with how we take,
make, and waste it? To answer the question, we need to understand how we got here.
Since the Industrial Revolution, the preeminent economic model has been based upon
taking a natural resource, making a product from it or burning it for fuel, and then sending
what remains to landfill (or discarding it into nature) as waste.
The value generated by this system contributed to social development and helped raise
livelihoods and quality of life for billions, reducing the percentage of people living in extreme
poverty (defined by the World Bank as earning less than US$1.9 a day) from around 40% to
just 10% of the world’s population today. 3 For many people, the linear system has delivered
progress.
But, for generations, the damaging environmental consequences of that model were
relatively invisible, perhaps because the sheer scale of our resource economy is almost
unimaginable; billions of tons of material, from plastic straws to blocks of concrete, bales of
wheat to sheets of metal, all constantly being taken, made, moved around, built with, used up,
and disposed of, all across the world. This great procession of material passes through our
lives at an astonishing rate and we now know it’s polluting our oceans, creating mountains
of trash pushing against city boundaries, and fueling the climate crisis because of the energy
demand to produce and move all that stuff. The unsustainable impacts have now become all
too evident.
The circular economy concept provides a model of change and renewal that intends to
improve this relationship between consumption of materials and the impacts on human and
environmental systems. Circularity offers both a set of scientific principles and a mindset
to problem-solving. Achieving circularity challenges how we design products, buildings, and
infrastructure. When we consider that it has been estimated that transitioning to a circular
economy could generate US$4.5 trillion in new economic output by 2030,4 we’re inspired
to imagine the abundance and progress that can be achieved while significantly improving
human and environmental systems for all.
But the challenges to making that vision a reality are as daunting as they are exciting. The
human behavior change, infrastructure transformation, and technological invention required
are far from simple. Reaching true circularity demands that we redefine value, processes,
choices, assumptions, and industrial protocols that have been standard practice across our
economy for decades. At Google, we have a role to play in all these crucial transitions, and this

1 Elmau Schloss, Annex to the G-7 Leaders’ Declaration National Archives and Records Administration, June 8, 2015, Accessed June 12, 2019, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-of-
fice/2015/06/08/annex-g-7-leaders-declaration

2 Press Release July 2018 English, Earth Overshoot Day, July 23, 2018. Accessed June 12, 2019, https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/press-release-july-2018-english/

3 Horra, Luis Pablo De La, Everything You Need to Know about Global Poverty, FEE Freeman Article, April 04, 2017, Accessed June 12, 2019, https://fee.org/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-global-
poverty/

4 Waste to Wealth: Creating Advantage in a Circular Economy, Accenture, Accessed June 12, 2019, https://www.accenture.com/t00010101T000000Z__w__/ao-pt/_acnmedia/PDF-19/Accentu-
re-Waste-Wealth-Transcript.pdf

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 strategy has been produced to guide our actions and decisions going forward.
As we considered the complexity of the challenge ahead, an intriguing insight emerged, one
where we could play a pivotal role.
An element of reaching a fully circular economy requires identifying, tracking, and
managing the overwhelming and globe-spanning swirl of materials. Thankfully, technological
developments in the 21st Century suggest a way to do so: To see stuff as information. Rather
than wheat bales and metal slabs, instead consider trillions of ‘bits’ of data racing across the
planet, often inefficiently, often wasted, and with most of the opportunities to reduce, reuse,
and share missed. If we regard our material economy in information terms–then we realize
that our resource and waste challenge is, partly, a data problem. There are industries seeking
the very resources that other industries treat as waste, and we could better connect them
through data.
Considering the circular economy as an information challenge is inspiring for us at Google.
It suggests that we can leverage our scale, resources, and technological expertise to help the
world meet resource needs. Data-driven circularity could accelerate innovation and growth,
while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and the extraction of raw
materials. All while generating environmental, economic, and community value. This insight
that we can approach waste as data is one we intend to test.
However, we’re starting with our own direct impact. So, across Google, we’ve begun
applying circular economy thinking to design out waste, keep the products and materials in
use, and utilize safe and healthy materials. We strive to embed these principles of circularity
into the fabric of our infrastructure, operations, and products: From how we build and manage
servers in our data centers, to how we design consumer electronics, and how we select the
materials we use to build and furnish our offices. As we deploy artificial intelligence and
machine learning, we can test our hypothesis that one of the key challenges with waste is
poorly managed data and share our discoveries with others.
Google was built to solve information problems, and the circular economy may be one of
our most exciting challenges yet.

Setting a new direction Our vision is simple: We want a circular Google within a sustainable world.
Achieving that outcome will be far harder than saying it. This vision asks us to challenge
learned behaviors and traditional processes. It will take time, planning, and specific definitions
of what we intend to do.
So, our new approach for Google starts with a clear 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.
Within this mission we define ‘maximize reuse’ as the implementation, to the fullest extent
possible, of our circular principles. We do so for each finite resource and the systems those
resources are connected to.

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 The inclusion of ‘value’ is also central to our approach. Because the paradigm shift from an
extractive and linear economic model to one that is regenerative and circular, must deliver a
net benefit for all.

How do we get there? Our circular principles are the heart of our approach, inspired by the breakthrough work of
our partners at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and adapted for Google’s specific impact
and opportunity. The principles are designed to drive consistency and replicability across our
business:

1. Design out waste and pollution

Circularity must be incorporated into design from inception, so things created today can
become the resources of tomorrow. Design must also eliminate the negative impacts of
economic activity that could cause damage to human health and natural systems. This
includes factors such as the release of greenhouse gases, the use of toxic and hazardous
substances, the pollution of air, land, and water, and landfilling and incineration of waste.

2. Keep products and materials in use

Producing materials requires the use of resources, but how those materials are used can have
dramatically different impacts. So, the effective use of each resource must be extended, for
as long as practical, while balancing safety and quality. Maximizing product use and reuse
helps to preserve embedded energy, labor, and materials, and reduces environmental impact.
Examples include: designing for durability, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and ultimately
recycling. For biological materials, this could mean cascaded use of by-products, before
nutrients are returned to the biosphere.

3. Promote healthy materials and safe chemistry

A circular economy requires us to not only focus on the flows of materials through our
business, but also to ensure safe and healthy use, reuse, and recycling of resources. To
keep materials flowing in commerce longer, we must design them to be safe for human and
environmental systems, because we can’t change the chemistry of products once we put
them out in the world.

Principles are important, as it’s impossible to write a rule or target for every possible decision.
For Google, these principles will guide our choices going forward and help resolve any
competing requirements. They won’t always be easy to follow, and education, debate, and
iteration will be needed to fully embed them in how we do things.

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Starting the journey to a circular Throughout Google, we’ve begun applying our principles to our actions. This really is the start,

Google but our efforts to date have set us on the right path. There are five key areas where we are
already seeing early signs of what’s possible:

1. Data centers
Google’s data centers are fundamental to our company, powering products like Search, Gmail,
and YouTube for billions of people around the world, 24/7. We own and operate 14 data
centers on four continents, and we continue to add new sites to serve our growing community
of users.

• Zero-waste data centers: Designing out waste in our server management has long been
a Google priority. By 2017, 18% of Google’s newly deployed servers were remanufactured
machines, and 11% of the components used for machine upgrades were refurbished
inventory. When we can’t find a new use for our equipment, we completely erase any
components that store data and then resell them. In 2017, we resold over 2.1 million units into
the secondary market for reuse by other organizations.
We’re committed to achieving zero waste to landfill for our global data center operations by
reducing the amount of waste we generate and finding better disposal options. In 2017, we
diverted 91% of waste from our global data center operations away from landfills. Our data
center in Mayes County, Oklahoma has proven that zero waste to landfill is possible.

2. Workplaces
At Google, just as we focus on people when it comes to designing our products, we also focus
on people when creating healthy and sustainable workplaces—from our San Francisco Bay
Area headquarters to our offices in more than 160 cities around the world. For example, we’ve
implemented strategies to minimize contamination in our office waste streams and have
identified diversion pathways that keep the waste we do generate out of landfills. In 2017, we
reached 78% landfill diversion for our offices globally and reduced landfill waste per Googler
by 4% at our Bay Area headquarters.
Also, our Healthy Materials Program, launched in 2012, leverages Google’s purchasing
power in the market to create a demand signal for healthier building products. Healthy
materials are products that eliminate harmful chemicals and are optimized for human and
environmental health. In the context of materials staying in the value chain, material health
and safe chemistry provide a foundation for the transition to safe and circular. To date the
healthy materials program has been deployed on over 28 million square feet of office space.

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 • Reducing building waste through constructions and deconstruction: We’re designing our
ground-up campus projects with circularity principles in mind. Our Bay View project will have
the largest geo-energy system in North America that allows us to recover waste heat from the
building and store it in the ground below, to be used for space heating without fossil fuel use.
Google has also been implementing interior ‘salvage and reuse’ at the interior building
scale since 2012. We’ve saved valuable doors, cabinetry, carpet tile, ceiling tile, and plumbing
fixtures and ensured that these materials had a second life with nonprofits. Continuous
salvage and reuse keep products and materials in use and also meets the increased landfill
diversion requirements from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Living
Building Challenge, and our local jurisdictions. It’s also an opportunity to reduce the life-cycle
and embodied carbon of new buildings and to provide a benefit to communities in need.
In 2018, we started to explore structural deconstruction of our existing buildings and we’re
now partnering with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to investigate the triple bottom line
benefits of deconstruction.

• Reducing food waste: Our cafés and Food Spots also offer nutritious, responsibly sourced
meals, snacks, and beverages without the waste. We compost or donate leftover food
wherever we’re legally able to do so, but we’ve learned that the best way to reduce food waste
is to prevent it in the first place by tracking data, and using it to make adjustments. Using
Leanpath technology in 197 kitchens in 22 countries, we’ve prevented over six million pounds
of food from ending up in landfill since 2014.

• Reducing inorganic waste: Our food program is focused on reducing single-use beverages
and we’ve relied on behavior science insights to raise the desirability of sustainable and
healthy options, such as spa water and filtration stations with reusable glasses. Culture
change also matters and we’ve encouraged employees to visibly keep their own reusable
bottle (and coffee mug) at their desks.

3. Consumer electronics
Google has made it a company-level goal to increase the sustainability and circularity of our
consumer electronic products, operations, and communities. Our suite of Google-branded
hardware includes a wide range of products like Google Pixel 3a, Nest Learning Thermostat,
and Google Home. Google products can be found in millions of homes around the world, and
therefore, is a priority area for our circularity efforts.

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 • Consumer electronics and circular design: We think it’s critical to create demand for recycled
materials in order to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
To date, we’ve shipped millions of consumer electronics made with post-consumer recycled
plastic. Products like the Nest Thermostat E, Google Home, and Chromecast all contain parts
with 20%–75% post-consumer recycled plastic content. We’re fascinated by the potential of
new sustainable materials and will continue to offer products that utilize them.
For the circular economy to be trusted, it must be based on safer chemistry, so in 2018, we
published our Restricted Substances Specification to ensure the use of safer materials across
our product portfolio.

4. Enabling others
While we work to build a circular Google, we’re also working to provide tools to help the billions
of people worldwide who use our products every day. Our new digital tool Your Plan, Your
Planet walks users through interactive scenarios to showcase everyday examples of how
small changes can make a big difference. The tool enables individuals to make their own
pledges to support a circular economy. We will review the reach and impact of this work as
we design new circularity solutions for our users.
Google also works with over 1,000 trusted suppliers worldwide to manufacture hardware
components for our data centers and consumer electronics, and to provide many other
products and services. These partnerships matter and they’re a priority for activating our
circularity principles. This builds on our existing commitments to ethical and fair treatment
for workers, safe and healthy workplaces, and a smaller environmental footprint. Across our
supply chain we’ve been designing in circularity.

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Our theory of change As we’ve worked on embedding circularity into Google, we’ve recognized challenges within the
wider systems of which we are a part. We’ve identified three systemic barriers to circularity
and the role we can play to help overcome them. These represent our theory of change: To
develop and deploy Google’s technological assets and know-how + cultural influence +
purchasing power to accelerate the transition to a circular Google that contributes to a
sustainable world.

Our technological assets Our cultural influence Our purchasing power

and know-how Barrier 2: Barrier 3:
Barrier 1: The vision of a circular economy is Circularity pilots rarely reach scale
Innovative circular models can be often seen as one of constraint and as it’s costly to take solutions from
undermined by poor data and lack of compromise, rather than abundance, infancy to maturity.
information availability (for example, innovation, and development. How can Google help:
when materials cross borders, or the Where Google can help: We can leverage our purchasing
disconnect between where goods are We connect with billions of users power to help circular solutions
manufactured versus where they are every day through products like replace linear options.
used). Search, Gmail, and YouTube, which Desired outcome:
Where Google can help: gives us the cultural influence to Scalable solutions and a demand
By utilizing our technological assets inspire enthusiasm and action for in the market for secondary and
and know-how, such as enabling circularity. We can also specifically upcycled materials.
technologies like Artificial Intelligence share the lessons of our own
(AI) and cloud computing to address experience in our operations and
key data challenges to improve decision making.
circularity outcomes.
Desired outcome:
Desired outcome: Support a clear and compelling vision
Emergent circular solutions and of a near-term circular future that is
technologies are taken to the next exciting and full of possibility. Share
level with replicable and scalable data what we learn and create a sense of
systems and metrics. abundance that inspires action.

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How to make a circular system Learning from our success to date, recognizing the barriers, and laddering up from our three
circular principles, we’ve now set a new overarching circularity goal for Google:

Maximize the reuse of finite resources across our operations, products, and supply chains
and enable others to do the same.

Designing a roadmap to achieve this goal was inspired by the steps we take to develop a basic
algorithm:

1. Define scope and boundaries

We identified three areas of our business where we can focus on maximizing the reuse of
finite resources:
• Google workplaces and supply chains
• Google data centers and supply chains
• Google consumer electronics and supply chains

2. Understand flows
We mapped our resources and how they flow through each of the key areas of our business.
We then added the possible outcomes for each resource as they near the end of their
originally intended utility.

3. Set sub-goals
After mapping our resources and understanding the flows, we introduced a set of applicable
sub-goals in each area of the business with the objective to intercept each resource flow at its
optimal time to promote the most favorable circular outcome.
The resulting circular model for Google distinguishes between technical and biological
cycles in resources flows. In biological cycles, food and biological materials (e.g., cotton
or wood) return into the system through processes such as composting and anaerobic
digestion. These cycles regenerate living systems such as soil, which provide renewable
resources for the economy. Technical cycles recover and restore products, components, and
materials through strategies including reuse, repair, remanufacturing, or recycling.
Although we often encounter composite materials, we’ve distilled down to the basic
biological (food, plant fiber, timber) and technical (plastic, metal, glass, minerals) resource
groups in order to visualize the flow of these resources through our business in a clear way.

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Flow of resources
through Google workplaces
Biological Technical
and supply chain
Food Fiber Timber Metal Plastic Glass Mineral

Powered by 24x7 carbon–free energy

Google
supply 3

Reuse Reuse
Recycle Repair
Compost Google Recycle
workplaces 2

End of life

Goal Sub-Goals

Maximize the reuse of finite resources across our

1 Pursue Living Building Challenge Materials 3 All Google cafes tracking pre-consumer food
operations, products, and supply chains,
Petal (which includes red list-free materials waste have a Food Efficiency Ratio of at least
and enable others to do the same
and net zero waste) at Charleston East, 2%-4%
Google’s first major campus being built from D

the ground up in Mountain View, California

Circular Principles (certification targeted for 2021) 4 Evaluate regenerative strategies for 100%
D P
of Bay Area district infrastructure (including
energy, water, and waste)
D Design out waste and pollution
2 Meet a 35% reduction in single-use beverages D
K Keep products and materials in use
per seated head count (SHC) at our top 25
P Promote healthy materials and safe
office sites by 2019; and 50% reduction in
chemistry to enable perpetual recycling
single-use beverages per SHC at top 25 sites
of resources
by 2020
D

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Flow of resources
through Google data centers
and supply chain
Metal Plastic Glass Mineral

1
Powered by 24x7 carbon–free energy
Google
supply chain 2

Reuse
Repair
Remanufacture
Google
data centers 1 Recycle

End of life

Goal Sub-Goals

Maximize the reuse of finite resources across

our operations, products, and supply chains, and
1 Maintain zero waste to landfill in our 3 Develop a scalable model for new hard drives
enable others to do the same data center operations, construction, and using rare earth magnets from recovered end
procurement of life drives in 2019
D K D K

Circular Principles 2 Develop supply chain contracts to prioritize

and accept secondary use materials by 2020
D K
D Design out waste and pollution
K Keep products and materials in use
P Promote healthy materials and safe
chemistry to enable perpetual recycling
of resources

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Flow of resources
through Google consumer
Biological Technical
electronics and supply chain Fiber Timber Metal Plastic Glass Mineral

Powered by 24x7 carbon–free energy

Google 2
supply chain
3

Reuse
Reuse
Repair
Recycle
Remanufacture
Compost Google Devices 2
Recycle
& Services PA
3

End of life

Goal Sub-Goals

Maximize the reuse of finite resources across

1 Develop supply chain contracts to prioritize 3 Use safer flame retardants and solvents
our operations, products, and supply chains, and
and accept secondary use materials by 2020 across our consumer electronics product
enable others to do the same
D K portfolio by 2023
P

2 Build 100% of consumer electronic products

Circular Principles launching in 2022, and every year after with the 4 Eliminate antimicrobials across our consumer
inclusion of recycled materials, with a drive to electronics product portfolio by 2023
maximize recycled content wherever possible P
D Design out waste and pollution
D K
K Keep products and materials in use
P Promote healthy materials and safe
chemistry to enable perpetual recycling
of resources

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Goals to change the flows Within the material algorithms above, the decision moment between flows is dictated by
sub-goals.
These are specific, time-bound, and measurable targets that will keep us on track to our
long-term goal of maximizing the reuse of finite resources across our operations, products,
and supply chains, and enabling others to do the same.

GOALS TO CHANGE THE FLOWS

Design out waste and Keep products and Promote healthy materials
pollution materials in use and safe chemistry to
enable perpetual cycling of
Maintain zero waste to landfill in our Develop a scalable model for new hard
data center operations, construction, and drives using rare earth magnets from
products
procurement recovered end of life drives in 2019 Pursue the Living Building Challenge
Materials Petal for red list-free materials
Pursue the Living Building Challenge Deploy three community renewable energy at Charleston East, Google’s first major
Materials Petal, (which includes a projects in the Democratic Republic of campus being built from the ground up
requirement for net zero waste) at Congo to diversify economic options for in Mountain View, California (certification
Charleston East, Google’s first major people in mining communities in 2019 targeted for 2021)
campus being built from the ground up
in Mountain View, California (certification Develop supply chain contracts to prioritize Use safer flame retardants and solvents
targeted for 2021) and accept secondary use materials by across our consumer electronics product
2020 portfolio by 2023
Meet a 35% reduction in single-use
beverages per seated head count (SHC) at Build 100% of consumer electronic Eliminate antimicrobials across our
our top 25 office sites by 2019; and 50% products launching in 2022 and every consumer electronics product portfolio by
reduction in single-use beverages per SHC year after with the inclusion of recycled 2023
at top 25 sites by 2020 materials, with a drive to maximize
recycled content wherever possible
All Google cafes tracking pre-consumer
food waste have a Food Efficiency Ratio of
at least 2%-4%

Evaluate regenerative strategies for

100% of Bay Area district infrastructure
(including energy, water, and waste)

Incorporate circular economy data into

Google products (e.g., recycling data in
Google Assistant)

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Can we do this? We are at the beginning of our circular economy journey. Some of our circularity goals can be
achieved in the near-term, while others will require a much longer time horizon.
We’re encouraged by what we’ve achieved with renewable energy. In 2012, Google made a
commitment to purchase enough renewable energy to match 100% of our global operations.
In 2017, we met this goal.
When we publicly committed to 100% renewable energy purchasing, we knew it was an
ambitious target and the path wasn’t yet clear. We experimented with and even invented new
purchasing tactics and pioneered new contracting models. Yet, we still see this achievement
as just the beginning. As we continue to move forward with renewable energy technologies
like wind and solar, we will work towards the more challenging long-term goal of powering our
operations with carbon-free energy on a region-specific, 24x7 basis.
This success has taught us what we’re capable of when we set ambitious goals. It’s also
proven to us that change at scale demands collaboration, imagination, and adaptability to new
realities as they emerge.

Going beyond today This new roadmap sets us on the path to circularity, but it’s far from the destination. Circularity
is an urgent and fascinating challenge and we’re inspired by what might be possible.
The idea that waste is an information problem especially inspires us because Googlers love
to unpack information problems. We believe that a new set of tools are emerging, which could
radically accelerate our ability to do so for the circular economy. In 2018, we co-authored
a paper with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and with research support from McKinsey
investigating the role of AI in the circular economy.
We uncovered a host of applications for AI, from predictive maintenance that prolongs
asset life, to building traceability and transparency in supply chains, and even repair being
made easier by smart 3D printing of spare parts. AI can enhance and enable circular economy
innovation in three main ways:

1. Design circular products, components, and materials

AI can enhance and accelerate the development of new products, components, and materials
fit for a circular economy through iterative machine-learning-assisted design processes that
allow for rapid prototyping and testing.

2. Operate circular business models

AI can magnify the competitive strength of circular economy business models, such as
product-as-a-service and leasing. By combining real-time and historical data from products
and users, AI can help increase product circulation and asset utilization through pricing and
demand prediction, predictive maintenance, and smart inventory management.

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 3. Optimize circular infrastructure
AI can help build and improve the reverse logistics infrastructure required to ‘close the loop’
on products and materials by improving the processes to sort and disassemble products, re-
manufacture components, and recycle materials.

We’re already using AI at Google to design out energy waste from our data centers. Machine
learning optimizes the controls of the cooling system and has delivered a 30% reduction
in energy use. This significant saving was made possible by leveraging the historical data
already collected by thousands of sensors within the data center-such as temperatures,
power, pump speeds, and using it to train a neural network, creating an AI-powered efficiency
recommendation system.
Creating a broader awareness and understanding of how AI can be used to support a
circular economy will be essential to encourage applications for circular design, circular
business models, and circular infrastructure. Ultimately, AI could be applied to the complex
task of redesigning whole networks and systems in any sector, from rewiring supply chains to
creating global reverse logistics infrastructure.
This is the new frontier of circularity and one which we intend to fully explore.

To change everything will take A truly systemic shift to a circular economy goes far beyond Google. New partnerships across
everyone industries and value chains will be needed to achieve economies of scale, reduce costs, and
test and refine new circular business models.
The scale of the change required to reach circularity will touch every part of society and
span the entire global economy. Business will lead the change, as the primary designers,
builders, and users of materials. Governments can send the signals that circularity is needed
and in the public benefit. And each of us, every day, can keep the circular economy turning by
choosing circular products and services for our own lives.
The need is evident and the rewards are significant. At Google, we are focused on utilizing
the solutions we know best. Even as we develop and support systematic applications of
technology for circularity, we will need collaboration and a degree of oversight to ensure that
data can be shared in an open and secure manner, and that AI is developed and deployed
in ways that are inclusive and fair to all. Transparency, with open or easy access to data,
is required but rarely found. Within the businesses who are part of the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation, we’ve found a trusted cohort and we thank them for their leadership.
Our new goal also commits us to enable others to embrace circularity. That has started with
our partners and in our supply chain. It also extends to the billions of Google users across the
world. In the coming months and years, we will work to inform, inspire, and partner.
If you’re a Google team member, partner, supplier or one of the billions of people who use
Google products every day, we hope you will come on this exciting journey with us.

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