How is Equinix Cutting Waste & Emissions From Data Centres?

Equinix is a multinational data centre company, focusing on AI-ready infrastructure and secure interconnection services.

It operates more than 280 data centres across 33 countries, serving more than 10,500 customers in its network.

Equinix has released its 2025 Sustainability report, which outlines its Future First strategy and the progress towards its environmental targets.

Future First sustainability strategy

Equinix’s Future First strategy explores how it adopts sustainability-minded data centre solutions, enabling its customers to expand their digital businesses and adopt next-generation technologies while prioritising their sustainability goals.

It is working on deploying sustainable innovations such as advanced cooling systems and optimised power management at a global scale.

Its sustainability efforts extend beyond its facilities to the electricity grids it relies on, which are challenged by the growing demand for low- and zero-carbon power.

Equinix aims to address this issue through its clean and renewable energy programme, which covers 96% of its 2025 energy use for its retail IBX data centres.

This helps to reduce market-based emissions, finance new clean and renewable energy capacity and enhance its operational resilience.

Patricia Leyva, Global Sustainability Enablement and AMER Lead at Equinix, writes on LinkedIn: “After 10 years of owning sustainability reporting at Equinix, it’s been incredibly rewarding to shift my focus completely towards enabling the sustainability value we create for customers, partners and business growth… and just as rewarding to watch our reporting team continue to raise the bar.

“Proud to see the release of the 2025 Sustainability Report and the continued evolution of a programme built on transparency, progress and impact. 

“It’s a great reminder that when strong foundations are in place, teams can keep elevating and creating even more value.”

Tackling environmental challenges

In an increasingly complex regulatory environment, Equinix designs, builds and operates data centres that optimise energy and water use, meet recognized building standards and integrate circular practices.

It has set science-based targets to help it reduce its environmental impact, with an overall goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2040.

Equinix is targeting a 50% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from a 2019 base year.

In 2025, it earned the EcoVadis Gold Medal for the first time, which places it among the top 5% of the 150,000 companies assessed globally.

Adaire Fox-Martin, CEO and President of Equinix, says: “Artificial intelligence and accelerated computing are giving rise to the most significant and consequential moment of technological transformation of our lifetimes.

“This creates extraordinary opportunities alongside immense responsibilities: to accelerate business growth whilst protecting our planet and empowering people around the world.

“That’s exactly what we did in 2025. Strong demand drove a record-setting year for our business as more customers put their trust in Equinix to build the digital infrastructure they need to meet this moment.

“As the neutral ground where the world’s AI, cloud and networking infrastructure converge, we are the essential layer of connectivity that makes it all work to create lasting business value.”

Equinix also aims to advance the circular economy through recycling and redeploying equipment.

It launched its Global Circularity Programme in 2024, which has since strengthened data collection, improved accuracy and created a more consistent approach to tracking progress.

Its data centres generate the majority of their waste from new equipment packaging or old equipment reaching end of life.

To tackle this, Equinix is working to reduce and divert waste from active data centres and offices by extending equipment life and increasing recycling.