HP’s Sustainability Leadership in May 2026: A Year in Review

(SeaPRwire) –   When it comes to technological innovation, making sure your value chain—spanning manufacturing to logistics—is beneficial for the planet is no simple task. Still, shrewd businesses recognize that prioritizing sustainability is essential, and HP is no different. For the second installment of our year-in-the-life series, sat down with Nancy Powell, sustainability manager for the UK&I and EMEA regions, to discuss navigating green initiatives despite the hurdles.

---

Priorities: What’s your core focus for 2026?

Giving customers access to more sustainable options.

Sustainability often starts as a collection of public goals, which you map out on a timeline then rally your company to work toward. I believe many businesses have initially framed sustainability around their own internal performance: how do we get from our current state to that public target? The major shift our team is part of right now is focusing on how sustainability solves a real problem for customers.

It’s no longer just about integrating sustainability into our hardware and software before shipping them out; we now consider the full lifecycle—from manufacturing and delivery to how customers use the products and how they dispose of them. Sustainability is no longer an afterthought; it’s about delivering tangible value to our customers.

At its most fundamental level, many of our customers have their own sustainability goals to hit. When they audit their carbon footprint, they examine every factor contributing to it, and they’ll find that their technology, hardware and purchasing choices make up a significant portion of that total.

Customers also want to make efficient and value-driven choices. They balance performance and price, but they’re also considering the energy use of their hardware to lower their operational costs.

84

HP rank on 500

When we deliver products to customers, we’re also leaving them with a packaging challenge to address. If we use multiple different materials and packaging styles, including single-use plastic, that creates additional waste streams they have to manage. We need to resolve these issues for them, reducing the hassle involved so they can focus on the materials, hardware and practical logistics, while also hitting their own sustainability goals.

Team motivation and prep: How did you inspire your team at the beginning of the year?

Working in sustainability has never been straightforward, but the landscape is shifting. When I began this career 25 years ago, I spent most of my time explaining what sustainability meant—today, that’s no longer necessary. Especially in the EMEA region, sustainability is now a standard part of procurement rules and contract terms, thanks to its growing profile and importance.

But the demands remain as tough as ever, and they’re getting even more stringent. Customers’ expectations are also rising, as they need to comply with regulatory data and reporting rules in their respective markets. For my team, this means the scope of sustainability work is expanding in tangible, significant ways, which adds to the challenge.

“Data is always going to be the big challenge for sustainability.”

I’ve found that when you deliver a motivational talk to your team, it’s usually because you need a pick-me-up yourself! As an optimistic leader, even with all these challenges, I see plenty of exciting developments and major opportunities on the horizon. In Europe, our customers have incredibly high sustainability standards—rightfully so—and I believe we all can tap into the significant opportunities there.

Top concerns: What’s keeping you up at night?

Data will always be the biggest hurdle for sustainability work. The reliability of data, how consistently you can collect and share it, the standardized methodologies used, and the lack of industry-wide alignment on these factors all create friction and tension between partner businesses. As part of a broad channel ecosystem, we collaborate with countless companies, so aligning on how we each measure product carbon footprints has long been an ongoing struggle.

Balancing trade-offs: What’s one compromise you’ve made this year to advance a key strategic goal?

Sustainability is all about trade-offs, plain and simple.

When speaking with customers, we have to debate whether prioritizing the device’s product carbon footprint is the right call. But wait—there’s another angle: a piece of hardware could have far more recycled content in its casing or internal components. If we only focus on reducing product carbon footprints, do we risk missing out on opportunities to recycle innovative new waste streams and integrate them into our products?

Key success metrics: What single number are you tracking at the end of this month to confirm a successful period?

The metric I prioritize tracking is the total number of customers and partners I meet with each quarter.

I use this number to gauge how engaged I am with external stakeholders. Our company’s core vision is to be fully customer-focused, so this metric helps me hold myself accountable: “Are you following through? Nancy, are you dedicating enough time to customer-centric work?”

I gain the most insights directly from customers, and investing time in these partnerships delivers the greatest value for HP.

When reviewing my calendar, I aim to spend nearly 50% of my time meeting with customers and partners. I tag all customer and partner meetings with a purple label in my calendar, so if I see a substantial amount of purple time blocked off, I know I’m on track to hit my goals.