HP Canada employees drive sustainability and change

Caterina Mazzotta is confident she made the right decision to join HP Canada early on in her career knowing that she sells products she feels good about and works for a global technology company at the forefront of sustainability.

“The company has always been committed to innovation and driving this positive change for the planet, for people, for communities,” says Mazzotta, national distribution account manager, who joined HP Canada 17 years ago.

“I’m very thankful to be working for a company that is a leader in sustainability. I’m a mom. I often think about climate change issues and how this will impact my kids. Large corporations are essential for raising awareness, educating consumers and putting the right product in the marketplace.”

Being part of a global company operating in more than 170 countries, Mazzotta appreciates HP’s ability to make impactful change. When she’s in Québec and given the opportunity, she takes pride in inviting customers for a tour of the Lavergne recycling facility in Montréal to see the impact firsthand, where more than 1,718 tonnes of ocean-bound plastics have been processed and used in HP products since 2016.

“HP has very ambitious environmental goals,” she says. “We have a phenomenal leadership driving this transformation.”

Working with business reseller partners, Mazzotta carries the leadership mantle of sustainability through the HP Amplify Partner Program. “We invite channel partners on the same journey as HP to drive this meaningful change across the global IT industry,” she says. “HP has trained and educated more than 1,400 global partners to drive this change to maximize opportunities for sustainability.”

The HP Amplify Impact Program provides companies with free training provides companies with free training, resources to conduct a sustainability assessment of their businesses and a roadmap for how to operate more sustainably.

Frances Edmonds, HP Canada’s head of sustainable impact, is developing the ecosystem around HP knowing that as a global leader in sustainability, the company doesn’t work in isolation and has a responsibility to push for greater action in combatting climate change, protecting human rights and accelerating digital equity.

“My job,” she says, “is to change the way Canada buys so that more Canadian companies start to think that sustainability is important.”

She is doing this largely by working to develop a more circular economy where goods and services incorporate more recycled content and are designed for longer lives. Through its Formal Design for Sustainability program, the company has set an ambitious goal of 75 per cent circularity for products and packaging by 2030. By 2025, HP will include 30 per cent postconsumer plastics in its print and PC portfolios and has committed to an environmental packaging strategy which aims to eliminate 75 per cent of single-use plastic packaging.

Through the HP Planet Partners return and recycling program, the company encourages customers to take steps toward sustainability. Customers have returned one billion printer cartridges for recycling through the program and since 2016, more than 879,100 tonnes of hardware and supplies have been recycled.

New HP Canada employees learn early on about the company’s commitment to sustainability. They receive two hours of mandatory live training from Edmonds on the circular economy, carbon footprints and HP’s far-reaching goals. Employees are also encouraged to enrol in the company’s global Sustainable Impact Champions program to become resource points of expertise for their teams and identify areas where more work needs to be done.

“We’re a purpose-driven company,” says Edmonds. “Yes, we have to make a profit and yes, we have to make projects and services that delight our customers but we’re really here to make a difference.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Greenest Employers winners, published April 16, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.