EBay & sustainability
How sustainable is eBay ?
EBay sustainability score report
Last edited: 11 August 2012 by Mario
Last reviewed: 11 August 2012 by Mario
Last reviewed: 11 August 2012 by Mario
Questions about Climate Change/ Carbon Emissions
1 out of 10| 1. Is there a policy for the brand (company) to minimize, reduce or compensate carbon emissions ? |
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eBay has taken several policy measures to reduce its carbon emissions, such as making its worldwide buildings more sustainable, by eg installing a solar pannel installation and reducing energy use. | Source |
| 2. Has the brand (company) published the annual carbon-footprint of its ‘own operations’ including the energy used in the data centers? |
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Ebay publicly reports its carbon footprint on the CDP website. In 2010, it had a total footprint of 207746 metric tons of CO2eq/yr (scopes 1-2), compared to 122928 metric tons of CO2eq/yr in 2008 (scopes 1-2). This represents a 69% increase in their own operations. | Source |
| 3. Has the brand (company) already reduced or compensated the carbon footprint of its own operations by at least 10% in the last 5 years? |
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See remark for climate change question 2. | Source |
| 4. Has the brand (company) set a target to reduce the carbon footprint of its 'own operations' by at least 20% within the next 5 years? |
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Ebay has set a target to reduce only 15% of its carbon emissions by 2012 compared to 2008. | Source |
| 5. Is at least 10% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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Ebay Inc reports that the company uses green energy and that the company has installed solar panels and fuel cell boxes on its headquarters. Also, eBay has installed solar array's on the roofs of some of its data centers. However, eBay does not communicate concrete numbers or percentages that the use of green energy represents on the total energy use. | Source |
| 6. Is at least 25% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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See remark for climate change question 5. | Source |
| 7. Is at least 50% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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See remark for climate change question 5. | Source |
| 8. Is at least 100% of the electricity used by the brand (company) generated from renewable resources, such as wind or solar energy? |
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See remark for climate change question 5. | Source |
| 9. Is the overall average Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) of the data center(s) below 1,5? |
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ebay provides PUE values for the ''Mercury project'' (also see case study in link), but it is not clear if this selection represents all the datacenters used by the brand. Also, eBay does not communicate an overall PUE number. | Source |
| 10. Is the overall average Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) of the data center(s) below 1,25? |
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See remark for climate change question 9. | Source |
Questions about Environmental Policy
0 out of 2| 1. Does the brand (company) have a corporate policy for environmentally responsible disposal of electronic waste? |
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ebay Inc does not communicate any information on its own responsible disposal of e-waste. Sustainability information should be easily accessible for consumers to make responsible choices. | Source |
| 2. Does the brand have a policy to seek out suppliers and/or service providers that conduct their business in environmentally responsible ways and does the brand provide concrete examples of this policy? |
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ebay Inc does not communicate any information on a policy on seeking out suppliers that conduct their business in environmentally responsible ways. | Source |
Questions about Labour Conditions/ Fair Trade
0 out of 1| 1. Does the brand have a policy to seek out suppliers and/or service providers who conduct their business with socially responsible and/or fair trade principles and does the brand provide concrete examples of this policy? |
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ebay Inc does not communicate any information on a policy on seeking out suppliers that conduct their business in a socially responsible way. Sustainability information should be easily accessible for consumers to make responsible choices. | Source |