Our mission as Team Xbox is to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet, but it’s critical we do so while taking care of the planet. We are working to reduce our environmental impact and creating opportunities for gamers to make decisions that can reduce their environmental impact while gaming.
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Our Mission
Reducing Carbon Footprint
Reducing Waste
Collective Action
“Sustainability at Xbox is more than a single destination. It’s a long-term responsibility that requires commitment, innovation and accountability.”
- Phil Spencer, CEO Microsoft Gaming
Creating a conscious future for gaming
At Microsoft – and by extension, at Xbox – we’ve set ambitious goals to meaningfully reduce the company’s environmental impact and be carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030.
To help Microsoft be carbon negative by 2030, Xbox is working to reduce its carbon footprint through research, innovation, strategic investment and accountability.
We have a long road ahead of us to achieve zero waste, and we can’t do it without you. We’re rethinking the materials we use to design, build, package, and distribute our products.
“It will not be a straight path to success, but we’re committed to improving our environmental impact in all areas of our business.”
- Dave McCarthy, Corporate Vice President Xbox Operations
Reducing our carbon footprint
We are rethinking how each stage of the product lifecycle contributes to our carbon footprint and we are innovating to reduce our impact while continuing to produce the quality products our fans love.
The Xbox Series X|S
With innovative features such as carbon aware game downloads and updates via Shutdown (energy saving) power modes and “Active hours” settings, we are finding ways to reduce the emissions of Xbox consoles with minimal impact to player experience.
For lower carbon emissions compared to our standard air-freight expedited and express shipping, Microsoft Store now offers the option of free ground shipping (3-7 business days) on eligible orders in the contiguous
US.
To increase transparency for customers and stakeholders, we publish Life Cycle Assessment results for our Xbox console, which can be found in our Xbox console EcoProfiles.
Xbox is exploring ways to use less new plastic and reduce waste. We are excited to offer more sustainable gaming options in a variety of designs while maintaining durability and performance. The plastic in all controllers in this collection contains 20% or more post-consumer recycled resins.
Xbox Wireless Controller – Daystrike Camo Special Edition
The re-launch of our Xbox Design Labs has pushed the boundaries even further with the addition of 15 new colors for our custom designed controllers that contain postconsumer recycled plastic, and more colors are coming
in the future.
Series X|S (refurbished)
Xbox now offers refurbished consoles as a lower waste alternative to buying a brand-new console. These refurbished consoles undergo a rigorous certification process, are tested to confirm they’re working properly, and inspected for hardware and cosmetic quality to deliver the high-quality gaming experience our fans love, while improving the circularity of our consoles.
By 2030, our goal is that all Microsoft product packaging will be 100% recyclable. On our way to achieving that target, we’ll eliminate single-use plastics in our product packaging by 2025. We have already converted
our Xbox gift card from plastic to paperboard, reducing over 500,000 kg of plastic annually.
The Microsoft Store Trade-in Program is powered by Teladvance, a company that specializes in electronics reuse and recycling. You get cash back and your used device gets a new home — or it’s recycled in a responsible way. Check eligibility at the link below.
“We know ambitious visions are never achieved alone, so Xbox is leading cross-industry partnerships to achieve a sustainable future for all of gaming.”
- Trista Patterson, Director of Gaming Sustainability
Mojang Studios and Minecraft Sustainability Maps
Mojang is creating opportunities for students to play games and learn about the importance of sustainability.
Frozen Planet II for Minecraft
Discover cold habitats with new content from Minecraft Education and BBC Earth. Explore five free worlds to experience life through the eyes of the astounding creatures that call the frozen parts of our planet home.
Students around the world learn about biodiversity, renewable energy, and climate change in Minecraft: Education Edition. Through programs like the UNESCO Global Build Challenge, young people have designed thousands of
solutions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Minecraft.
“Xbox believes in leveraging the power of gaming to enact real world, positive change and partnering directly with players to support vital, global causes.”
- Jenn Panattoni, Head of Xbox Social Impact
Playing for the Planet
Xbox, along with others in the industry have committed to harness the power of their gaming platforms to take action to address the climate crisis. Together with the United Nations (UN), in 2019, we launched the Playing for the
Planet Alliance.
