How Carbon accounting moved Sustainability into the Engineering Department

Sustainability entered engineering the moment carbon became product-level data. That changed when regulations and customers started asking for product-level data.

As an example, he EU Battery Regulation now requires carbon footprint declarations tied to the battery itself, not just the company producing it. Digital Product Passport frameworks are pushing the same direction across electronics and industrial products. Even Apple’s supplier programs increasingly focus on manufacturing emissions tied to specific product lines rather than generalized ESG reporting.

For years, sustainability in electronics was mostly measured at the corporate level: annual emissions, renewable energy targets, supplier questionnaires.

But when carbon becomes tied to PCB design, material selection, manufacturing geography, logistics routes, and supplier choices, carbon is no longer just a reporting metric. A design engineer selecting between two laminates may now also be selecting between two carbon profiles.