12 TVBEurope
BAFTA’s independent chairmanship, have had the pleasure of watching the group grow from 12 to 15 members. There are neither group carbon targets nor pledges from individual organisations; we operate with a project plan focusing on engagement, training, communication and tools, and a commitment to finding the solutions we need. This is ground-breaking work for a fast-paced and resource hungry industry but in most cases akin to the type of sustainability that we undertake daily in our own homes.
Opinion & Analysis Delivery
The next challenge is how we get our content to our audiences. It seems certain that the ‘mast on a hill’ approach is not the direction we are moving in, despite it being the most efficient way to do things.
The rest of the industry requires a rather more specialist approach, so perhaps little surprise that distribution and broadcast have been a little late to the table. Starting with TV sets, these contribute to the 50 million tonnes of e-waste that end up in landfill every year in the UK. I use that term ‘waste’ loosely here as there is more gold in a tonne of e-waste than in a tonne of gold ore itself. What we need to embed are principals of circularity – electing to build our devices with their end of life in mind. Whether replaced entirely or upgraded one component at a time, such devices can be deconstructed and their components entirely recycled or re-used. Roll on the circular economy 8K TV.
“The task ahead of us is achievable yet truly enormous and will only be possible with almost unfathomable enthusiasm and collaboration.”
As we push more of our content through data centres (often those in the UK rather than naturally cooled ones in cooler climes), the energy impact rises significantly. It is foolish to think we might be able to hold back the ‘on demand’ tide; we’re almost a decade late to reinvent that wheel. Instead, we must focus our attention on our energy provision. Currently, 15 per cent of the UK energy market is from renewable sources, a figure that has doubled over the last four years, but one that still leaves much
www.tvbeurope.com September 2014
room for improvement. With 100 per cent renewable energy deals scarce and costly, perhaps there is a way we can cooperate as an industry, collaborating to gain sufficient purchasing power to make cheap, clean power a viable option.
Selling the sustainability story The final area that is surely worthy of attention is how we convey sustainability editorially – placing electric vehicles in soaps, helping to debunk the last bastions of unfounded public scepticism or selling a vision of a sustainable future as exciting, aspirational and desirable. We are an industry that has made a living on the ability to sell a good story. Fortunately, we have some of the most creative, imaginative and innovative minds to make all of this a reality. The task ahead of us is achievable yet truly
enormous and will only be possible with almost unfathomable enthusiasm and collaboration. The aim of this article has been to lay down the gauntlet for positive change and provide some context to the current state of play; I hope you’re up for the challenge. You can follow Aaron Matthews on Twitter @enviroARMy.
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