Helping protect healthy forests
Our purpose, Powering Digital Freedom, includes a commitment to protect our world which means supporting a healthy planet. Throughout the year, we work internally and with our partners to manage our environmental impacts, minimizing our greenhouse gas emissions, engaging our employees in environmental stewardship and identifying new strategies to reduce our footprint, especially in our product line.
We are a digital-first company and are proud that 98% of our products are delivered digitally. Although physical products account for only 2% of our annual revenue, we believe we have a responsibility to deliver those products in a way that supports healthy forests. That’s why we’re proud to report that in fiscal 2025, ~55% of our physical products were made using paper or cardboard that was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), our highest use rate on record. We also plan to increase our use of FSC-certified cardboard in products made in Europe and Asia later this year.
FSC is a trusted nonprofit organization that works to protect healthy, resilient forests. FSC certification ensures that our paper and cardboard come from responsibly managed forests. The organization sets criteria for forestry operations and chain of custody standards globally, prioritizing water quality, biodiversity, the prohibition of hazardous chemicals, the protection of local communities and workers, and more.
Working with partners to reduce waste and plastic
The Gen Global Supply Chain team leads multiple initiatives to reduce the impact of our physical products. These include managing assembly materials, such as inks, plastic and cardboard, and partnering with suppliers who embrace sustainability in their own operations.
Our two primary suppliers, who produce more than 98% of our global physical product by spend, maintain environmental management systems that are ISO 14001-certified. We also collaborate closely with Tier 1 physical product suppliers on optimizing packaging, exploring renewable energy sources and reducing plastic use. As a result, our physical products now contain less than 0.5% plastic.
Additionally, in fiscal 2026, our Supply Chain team is working with our suppliers to find possibilities to replace the plastic used in transport packaging with paper. For example, we are in the process of changing the bands used to hold products together from plastic to paper in our Americas and Asia Pacific regions, and in EMEA, we are in the process of changing packaging filler from plastic to paper.
On the other end of the product lifecycle, we are members of several take-back initiatives in Europe that fund recycling programs for our consumer products. Gen also has an employee-focused computer buy-back program that resold 400 devices globally over the past financial year.
Supporting a healthy planet
These efforts are part of our broader commitment to promote sustainability across our business and communities. Recent activities include our AquaTower build with Planet Water Foundation to mark World Water Day, our series of volunteering events throughout Earth Month and our continued support for our team members’ green home projects through our Sustainable Home Improvement Program.
In light of these initiatives, we’re honored to be recognized by Newsweek as one of the World’s Greenest Companies 2025. The annual ranking celebrates companies that are reducing their environmental impact in key areas like greenhouse gas emissions, water management and waste reduction. Learn more about our environmental strategy in our latest Social Impact Report.
