Originally published in Lenovo’s 2023/24 ESG Report
Lenovo is working both internally and externally to minimize and mitigate water risks. Lenovo has:
Implemented and maintains a corporate Water Resiliency Policy;Endorsed the UN CEO Water Mandate;Joined the SBTN Corporate Engagement Program, pledging alignment with Science Based Targets Network’s (SBTN) goals and vision and contributing advice and end-user insights to the development of SBTN methods and tools as an SBTN Corporate Engagement Participant; andJoined UN Global Compact Forward Faster initiative to accelerate private sector action towards the SDGs, specifically committing to the water resilience target within the initiative.
During the FY 2023/24 reporting year, Lenovo continued to measure and monitor water use and risk. In Lenovo’s direct operations, the primary uses of water continue to be for water access, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services for employees, contractors, and visitors in its facilities around the globe as well as building cooling. Because Lenovo’s primary water use is for employee support, water use varies from location to location with its largest manufacturing facilities and the sites with the largest employee headcount, withdrawing and discharging the most amount of water. Lenovo’s water data for the current reporting year is presented in Section 7.0. Annual Verification Statements for its total water withdrawal and discharge are available on Lenovo’s website.
Approximately 99 percent of Lenovo’s water is supplied by third parties. To date, Lenovo has not experienced any issues with sourcing water that is fit for purpose. Approximately 99 percent of Lenovo’s water is discharged back to third parties for treatment. Lenovo’s EMS requires sites to characterize their discharges before entering into an agreement with a treatment facility. Exceptions may exist for typical sanitary waste. It also requires sites to not discharge constituents for which a treatment facility does not have treatment capability, update characterization when a site’s activities change, and adhere, as applicable, to the discharge limits of local law, the treatment facility, and any associated permits.
Lenovo’s EMS includes an annual global water target. For the FY 2023/24 reporting year, the target was to maintain per person water withdrawal (volumes not to exceed a 5 percent increase compared to the FY 2022/23 reporting year). The target was achieved through local targets at select sites.
The results of Lenovo’s environmental targets are available in Section 8.0.
Lenovo requires sites to report environmental incidents, including water-related incidents, through its internal environmental database. During the FY 2023/24, there were no water-related incidents. In addition to internal reporting, Lenovo’s manufacturing facilities undergo periodic audits some of which cover aspects of WASH and water management. For more information on audits at Lenovo’s facilities, see Section 4.0.
While Lenovo has minimal wet processes, it appreciates the importance of adequate quantities of sufficient quality water to its supply chain partners with wet processes, particularly the semiconductor industry. Lenovo requires suppliers to adhere to the Supplier Code of Conduct and the RBA Code of Conduct through contractual stipulations, both of which include water-related provisions. Lenovo uses RBA audits to verify compliance with RBA’s Code of Conduct by most suppliers by spend.
For more information on these supplier activities, see Section 6.0.
Water risks within Lenovo’s operational footprint and supply chain are assessed annually using publicly available water risk tools (World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct and WWF’s Water Risk Filter Tool).
For more information about Lenovo’s identification and assessment of water-related risks and opportunities, metrics, and actions, please read Lenovo’s responses to the most recent CDP Water Security questionnaire.
For details on Lenovo’s global partnership with Wine to Water (W|W), a non-profit organization committed to supporting life and dignity for all through the power of clean water, see Section 4.0.
