Chapter 11: Sustainable Development Goals, Circularity and the Data Centre Industry: a Review of Real-world Challenges in a Rapidly Expanding Sector

The last three decades have seen rapid growth in the Data Centre Industry (DCI), which has significantly affected the world we live in today. With the supposedly positive impact of digital technologies, nobody questioned the sustainability of the industry for many years. Only recently, research has started to identify the trade-offs of information and communication technology, particularly for data centres. The increasing environmental concerns sparked discussions about sustainability in many industries, governments and communities, including the DCI. Although the relationship between business and the goal of pursuing sustainability remains complicated and has not been fully explored through research, various studies have emphasised the need to move beyond business as usual. Therefore, businesses within the DCI need to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and offset the significant impacts of this sector on the environment, including resource depletion, critical raw materials’ extraction and unethical labour practices. This chapter presents an overview of this unique sector in the context of the impacts across three pillars of sustainability and summaries circular economy-inspired initiatives. Furthermore, it reviews opportunities for the sector to contribute to the SDGs and presents research gaps in present awareness and approaches to tackling the SDGs.