Supplier and Customer Ecology Policy v1.001 2025-09-05

Our Commitment

At GEN, we take our environmental responsibilities seriously. We work hard to ensure that everything we do is ecologically sound, from the way we operate our data centre environments to how we design, procure, deliver and support services. We have been recognised with industry awards and are active members of several working groups focused on data centre ecology, sustainability and carbon neutrality (See Ecology in About menu).

Scope

This policy applies to our own operations, our supply chain, and the services and solutions we provide to customers. It sets expectations for suppliers and explains how we support customers to make more sustainable choices.

Principles

• Reduce environmental impact across our operations and value chain.
• Prefer suppliers and partners who can demonstrate strong environmental performance.
• Design and operate services with efficiency, circularity and longevity in mind.
• Measure, report and continually improve our environmental performance.

Suppliers: Standards and Procurement

We are committed to considering the ecological footprint of our suppliers when placing new business and when renewing existing relationships. Our procurement approach includes sustainability criteria alongside cost, quality and service.

• Environmental credentials form a material weighting in supplier selection and tender evaluations.
• We look for evidence such as energy usage transparency, renewable energy sourcing, responsible logistics, end-of-life take‑back, repairability, and credible decarbonisation plans (including Scope 1–3).
• We prefer suppliers who maintain relevant certifications or frameworks (e.g. ISO 14001, ISO 50001, PAS 2060, SBTi, TCFD-aligned reporting), or who can evidence equivalent robust practice.
• We discourage unnecessary packaging and prioritise recycled and recyclable materials.
• We expect compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations, and we reserve the right to audit or request supporting evidence.

Customers: Partnership for Sustainable Choices

We take an active interest in encouraging and supporting our customers to make more sustainable choices in their operations. We will:

• Offer architecture reviews to identify energy and resource efficiencies, such as consolidation, virtualisation and right‑sizing.
• Promote solutions powered by renewable energy where available, and provide options for lower‑impact hosting and connectivity.
• Support hardware lifecycle extension through maintenance, upgrades and reuse, and manage responsible end‑of‑life and e‑waste recycling through certified partners.
• Share practical guidance on sustainable service design, software efficiency, and data minimisation.
• Provide transparent service metrics (where feasible) to help customers measure environmental impact and track improvements.

Data Centres and Operations

• Operate and select facilities with efficient power usage effectiveness (PUE) and robust cooling strategies (including containment, free‑air and liquid cooling where appropriate).
• Favour locations and providers that use high proportions of renewable electricity and have credible decarbonisation roadmaps.
• Minimise water usage and avoid harmful refrigerants wherever practicable.
• Deploy efficient hardware, firmware optimisation and power management policies.
• Consolidate workloads and decommission idle resources to reduce energy waste.

Carbon and Materials Management

• Measure and work to reduce emissions across Scopes 1 and 2, and material Scope 3 categories.
• Prioritise absolute reductions over offsets; where offsets are used, select high‑integrity, independently verified projects.
• Embed circular economy practices: repair, reuse, remanufacture and recycle equipment wherever feasible.
• Design for durability and upgradability to extend product life and reduce embodied carbon.

Governance, Training and Reporting

• Assign clear accountability for environmental performance within senior leadership.
• Provide appropriate training and awareness for employees and contractors.
• Engage with industry bodies and working groups to advance best practice and share learning.
• Publish periodic updates on progress, challenges and improvements, including key metrics where available.

Compliance

We comply with applicable environmental legislation, standards and customer requirements. This policy complements our wider governance framework and may be updated periodically to reflect evolving best practice, technology and regulation.

Review

This policy is reviewed at least annually, or sooner where there are material changes in law, operations or environmental risk.