Microsoft revealed some sustainability plans for future Xbox products. It's worth noting that Microsoft has committed to becoming a zero-waste, water-polluting company that doesn't pollute water and doesn't increase its carbon burden by 2030, and has already mentioned how to make its Xbox products in between. Microsoft will use a variety of tools to achieve its 2030 goals.
By 2030, Xbox products will be 100% recyclable in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The term "product" referred to herein includes Xbox consoles, accessories, and packaging. Microsoft claims that its Xbox Series X|S console has been confirmed to be 97% recyclable based on standard assessments, and as part of this effort, physical gift cards will also be converted from plastic to paper.
Microsoft has revealed that the company has integrated an "enhanced power monitoring system" into some of its host products to provide telemetry data on power consumption. Similarly, the Xbox Serie console was the first to incorporate post-consumer recycling (PCR) resin in part manufacturing. Console products are made from at least 28 percent of these resins, which was introduced in the XSX console at the end of 2021, and likewise, 25 percent of the handles developed by Xbox Design Labs are made up of this resin, which the company plans to increase to 28 percent by May 2022.
On the software side, the Xbox host now has energy saving mode enabled by default, it consumes 20 times less power in standby mode, and can also automatically download updates at low power consumption to reduce energy waste.
Since Xbox Cloud Gaming operates highly dependent on Azure infrastructure, the infrastructure will shift to 100% renewable energy by 2025. The custom hardware used to power this service leverages the same sustainable design principles as regular Xbox consoles.
Microsoft stressed that game developers, consumers and supporting sustainability organizations need to work together to truly achieve sustainability in this area.