SUSTAINABILITY
Meta’ s approach to sustainable design in data centres reflects a shift in how hyperscale infrastructure is conceived, built and operated. Rather than treating sustainability as a compliance layer, the company integrates it into hardware engineering, construction methods and supplier engagement.
At the core of this strategy is Meta’ s“ Design for Sustainability” framework, which sets out technical principles to reduce emissions across IT hardware lifecycles. This includes modular design, reuse of components, dematerialisation and the use of lowercarbon materials. These interventions target Scope 3 emissions, which remain the most complex challenge for data centre operators due to their link to manufacturing and supply chains.
In its 2025 engineering guidance, the company explained:“ Sustainable hardware design requires collaboration between hardware designers, engineers and sustainability experts to meet performance requirements while limiting environmental impact”.
This reflects a systems-level view, where efficiency gains are achieved not only through energy use but through material selection and lifecycle management.
91 % of construction waste diverted from landfill( 2024)