The connection between electronics and deforestation may not be immediately obvious, but the supply chains that produce IT equipment drive significant forest loss around the world. From mining operations that clear tropical forests to agricultural expansion for biofuels used in manufacturing energy, the demand for new electronics contributes to one of the planet’s most pressing environmental crises. Understanding these connections adds another dimension to the environmental case for extending IT equipment lifecycles and supporting circular economy approaches.
Mining and Forest Clearing
Mining for the metals and minerals used in electronics is a direct driver of deforestation, particularly in tropical regions where some of the richest mineral deposits coincide with some of the most biodiverse forests on earth.
Gold mining in the Amazon Basin has caused extensive deforestation across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and other South American countries. Both large-scale industrial operations and artisanal mining clear forest for mine sites, processing areas, access roads, and worker settlements. In Peru alone, gold mining has destroyed over 100,000 hectares of Amazon forest in recent decades.
Copper and nickel mining in Indonesia, particularly in Papua and Sulawesi, has cleared substantial areas of tropical rainforest. The Grasberg mine in Papua, one of the world’s largest copper and gold operations, has transformed thousands of hectares of forest into an industrial landscape.
Bauxite mining for aluminium in Guinea, West Africa, threatens some of the region’s remaining chimpanzee habitat. Mining concessions overlap with protected areas and community forests, creating direct deforestation pressure.
Tin mining in Indonesia, particularly on the islands of Bangka and Belitung, has cleared forest and mangrove habitat. Tin is a key component in solder used throughout electronics manufacturing.
Rare earth element mining in Myanmar, which has become a significant source of these materials used in electronics magnets and displays, is associated with forest clearing in ecologically sensitive border regions.
Infrastructure and Indirect Deforestation
The deforestation impact of mining extends well beyond the mine site itself. Access roads built to reach remote mining operations open previously inaccessible forest to logging, agriculture, and settlement. Studies have shown that road construction associated with mining is one of the most powerful predictors of subsequent forest loss in tropical regions.
Power infrastructure for mining operations, including power lines, dams for hydroelectricity, and gas pipelines, creates additional forest clearing and fragmentation. Support facilities including worker housing, processing plants, and transportation hubs further expand the deforestation footprint.
These indirect effects can be several times larger than the direct mine footprint, meaning the true deforestation impact of mining for electronics materials is significantly greater than the area of forest directly cleared for mine operations.
The Carbon Connection
Deforestation driven by electronics mining creates a double carbon penalty. The forest cleared releases stored carbon into the atmosphere, with tropical forests storing approximately 150 to 250 tonnes of carbon per hectare. This released carbon adds to the lifecycle emissions of the electronics produced from the mined materials. And the destroyed forest can no longer absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, reducing the planet’s carbon sink capacity.
This deforestation-related carbon is rarely included in the embodied carbon calculations for IT equipment, meaning the true lifecycle carbon footprint of new electronics is higher than typically reported.
Palm Oil and Electronics Manufacturing
An indirect but significant link between electronics and deforestation runs through palm oil. Palm oil and its derivatives are used in some manufacturing processes and as a source of biofuel in energy generation in Southeast Asian countries where electronics manufacturing is concentrated. The expansion of palm oil plantations is a primary driver of deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia, two countries that are also major electronics manufacturing hubs.
What Organisations Can Do
Individual organisations have limited ability to directly influence mining practices in remote tropical regions. However, several actions can reduce your indirect contribution to electronics-driven deforestation. Extending IT equipment lifecycles reduces demand for new mining, proportionally reducing the deforestation pressure from mineral extraction. Purchasing refurbished equipment avoids virtually all mining-related deforestation impacts because no new mineral extraction is required.
Choosing manufacturers with responsible sourcing commitments rewards companies that conduct due diligence on their mineral supply chains and avoid sourcing from operations associated with illegal deforestation. Maximising recycling and materials recovery through certified ITAD providers reduces the demand for primary mineral extraction, substituting recycled metals for freshly mined ones.
Supporting industry initiatives like the Responsible Minerals Initiative, which works to improve supply chain transparency and responsible sourcing practices in the electronics industry, contributes to systemic change.
For a comprehensive view of how the electronics lifecycle affects the natural environment, see our guide on the true environmental cost of electronic waste. For information on how circular economy practices reduce these impacts, our guide on the circular economy for electronics covers the practical approaches.
]]>