Many of the companies making commonly used digital storage and memory products are issuing sustainability public impact reports as an adjunct their regular annual reports. We have talked about some of these efforts at hard disk drive companies such as Western Digital and Seagate but the flash memory storage companies are also doing their part.
An example is Pure Storage with their recent report issued this month covering February 2024 through February 2025. The company says that its FY25 GHG emissions and purchased generated renewable energy (RE) were verified by Apex, a third-party, in accordance with ISO 14064-3.
Science Based Targets Initiative, SBTI, validated the targets below and classified the company’s Scope 1 and 2 climate ambition as in line with a 1.5 degrees Celsius trajectory. The report also said that Pure Storage is also committed to be net zero by 2040 covering its Scope 1 and market-based Scope 2 emissions.
The company’s Enterprise Data Cloud creates a unified data storage system across Pure Storage arrays and includes modular non-disruptive upgrades that extend hardware life. A circular design philosophy helps avoid e-waste.
In particular the company’s Evergreen upgrades allow customers to continuously modernize hardware in place, without disruption or full system replacements. Arrays stay productive for 10+ years which eliminates two to three full hardware replacements and the associated data migrations that would be required. As a result, embodied emissions, e-waste, and the administrative burden of the conventional hardware refresh cycle are greatly reduced.
The company was also finding ways to increase overall storage capacity with existing hardware as well as providing new hardware with greater storage capacity in the same rack space. Pure said it had optimized its Purity operating environment to more efficiently use raw storage capacity. As a result, customers gained 5% more usable capacity on FlashArray and 6% more usable capacity on FlashBlade through a nondisruptive software upgrade.
The company has also found other ways to extend the life of its products. Pure began work on a new line of remanufactured FlashArray products in FY25. These products use refurbished controllers which can reduce the manufacturing portion of GHG impact by approximately 18%, while also providing a circular refurbishment and redeployment path for all upgraded FlashArray controllers. Our first remanufactured product, FlashArray//RC20™, is a capacity-optimized, entry-level enterprise storage array, built using a combination of renewed and brand-new components.
Regarding end of life, Pure says it takes a proactive, integrated approach to product end-of-life, reflecting the same principles of modularity, efficiency, and circularity that define its Evergreen architecture. When systems reach the end of their service term, returned hardware is evaluated for repair, refurbishment, or responsible recycling. Thanks to cross-generational compatibility and modular design, many components—such as controllers and DFMs—can be refurbished and redeployed within the Pure Storage product ecosystem.
This reduces waste, extends product lifespan, and minimizes the use of new materials. For components that cannot be refurbished or remanufactured, Pure Storage partners with certified e-waste vendors who follow rigorous standards for data security, environmental compliance, and material recovery—ensuring consistent, high-integrity outcomes across the globe, while meeting applicable regional regulations. For example, our European e-waste partner’s recycling facilities have been optimized to the point that less than 0.2%, on average, goes to landfill per year.
Digital storage is a major component in enterprise computing and data centers. Pure is showing how digital storage to power AI and other needs can be useful and sustainable.
