“Overlooked” challenge: Data centre boom could lift e-waste load 10-fold, increase “forever chemical” risks

Australia’s environmental authorities will be faced with a wave of new e-waste loads as the data centre industry ramps up, including the handling and disposal of rising amounts of so-called “forever chemicals”.

International science publications, including Environmental Science & Technology, have highlighted the “overlooked chemical footprint” implanted by data centres and their associated digital infrastructure.

These centres typically house “substantial quantities of materials associated with emerging contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [the PFAS chemicals often dubbed “forever chemicals”] polymer-based materials capable of generating microplastics, brominated flame retardants, heavy metals, and engineered nanomaterials,” a report in the ES&T journal reported last month.

“Data centres, with their elevated airflow velocities, thermal cycling, chemically treated cooling systems, and frequent equipment replacement, may mobilise contaminants into the environment,” it said.

“However, they are often overlooked as sources of chemical emissions, leading to inadequate environmental monitoring and research.”

Up to now, public debate about data centres in Australia has focussed mostly on their expected load on electricity and water supplies, and the suitability of their location given their size, attendant noise and potential diesel emissions.

However environmental groups in the US such as the Environment and Energy Study Institute, have begun to add contaminants to the list of concerns involving data centres, with PFAS chemicals at the forefront. The high heat and vibration often associated with centres’ operations contributes to the rapid turnover of components.

• “Data centres host tens of thousands of servers that run 24/7 in order to keep virtual networks, cloud storage, and computing in operation,” a report by the Institute stated in April. “Such servers require semiconductors, cooling systems, and fire suppressants—all sources of PFAS forever chemicals.”

Some of these environmental issues mey be addressed in the public hearings planned by the Senate Inquiry into Artificial Intelligence and Data Centres for later this month and at the start of October.

The Total Environment Centre, based in Sydney, has zeroed-in on the potential scale of the increase in e-waste, including potent greenhouse refrigerant gases and water pollutants.

“The scale of the rapid expansion in Australia is significant, reportedly with 296 current and proposed data centres including 108 in the greater Sydney area,” the TEC said.

“On our assessment, the server units from 300 moderately sized data centres would have capacity to increase Australia’s yearly e-waste generation by more than 925% per annum within four years of establishment,  from 600 million kilograms, to 6,154m kg (or 6.15million tonnes),” it said.

• On refrigerant gases for cooling equipment, Australia presently only recovers about 461 tonnes, or 16%, of the roughy 3,000 tonnes of such gases imported each year, the centre said.
  
• “Some of these gases, like hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) range from 12-times to as much as 14,800-times the Global Warning Potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide,” it added.  “Data centres represent a significant growth area in use of these products, and are expected to remain the main source of new demand.”

Mark Zihrul, a TEC compaigner said: “We can’t afford to make the same mistake with data centres, as we did with other e-waste like computers, TVs and batteries when society found it had a mountain to climb to to try to get on top of the problem”. 

“Too much pollution was caused and resources wasted,” Zihrul said.  “Australia has the overall legislation to introduce rigorous mandatory product stewardship requirements – we need to act early and avoid rushed decisions to get it right.”    

Industry group, Data Centre Australia, said Renew Economy’s queries about chemicals were the first it had received. It noted not all data centres were the same, with some not owning or operating the electronics used.

“Data centre equipment – including any equipment with a chemical component – is designed for relevant operational conditions and while all equipment has an intended design life, you would expect data centres to use it in the way it was intended,” said Belinda Dennett, Chief Executive Officer of Data Centre Australia. 

“Member companies that have operational data centres have their own approaches to e-waste recycling and disclosure, such as through annual sustainability reports,” Dennett said.

Renew Economy approached key environmental oversight bodies at state and federal level for comment.

Erin Bowen, executive director of strategy with Environment Protection Authority Victoria said some data centres “may require an EPA Development Licence and Operating Licence if they trigger scheduled activities under the Environment Protection Regulations”.  

“If a data centre proposal is referred to EPA by a planning authority , we may play a role in providing advice to the ultimate decision maker,” Bowen said. 

“While only some data centres may need an EPA permission, all data centres are required to comply with their environment protection obligations in accordance with the Environment Protection Act 2017, including the General Environmental Duty, and any conditions attached to an EPA permission,” she said, adding that “like all industries, data centres must properly manage their waste and ensure its lawful disposal”.

NSW has lately released guidelines – not firm regulations – for how it wants to manage the data centre rush. Those guidelines only make four references to waste, including how there might be “opportunities to improve circular economy, e-waste and other sustainability outcomes through application of sustainability rating schemes, carbon measurement frameworks and other targeted measures”.

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority said the planning and assessment process for data centres was managed by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI). (Renew Economy contacted DPHI for comment too.)

“The EPA provides technical advice for state significant data centre proposals,” an authority spokesperson said.

“Under national IChEMS Legislation the import, use and manufacture of PFAS (PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS) is banned in Australia, and there are requirements in place for the disposal of waste containing these chemicals,” the spokesperson said. 

However, the EPA had not yet issued any Environment Protection Licences to data centres “as none have triggered the licensing thresholds (around fuel storage and electricity generation)” she added. 

Other organisations have raised the waste issues, such as France-based Veolia Environnement S.A.

“An important but frequently overlooked dimension of data centre sustainability is how hardware
waste is managed,” Veolia said in its submission to the Senate inquiry.

“Data centres generate large volumes of end-of-life equipment such as servers, networking hardware, cooling systems, batteries and increasingly solar panels and other renewable energy assets,” it said.

“Currently, most of this e-waste is exported, landfilled or managed through informal channels,” the company said, with Australia missing out on an opportunity to “grow a clean Australian manufacturing base”.

“Also, mismanagement of these hazardous materials risks environmental damage and human health,” Veolia said.

“We recommend the Australian Government work with the states and territories to establish minimum standards for the responsible management, reuse and recycling of data centre hardware waste, consistent with the National Waste Policy,” it added.

The Total Environment Centre said countries such as France set circular-economy obligations that applied to professional electrical equipment used in data centre, making them responsible for the collection and processing at the end of life.

“The current co-regulatory National Television Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS) does not cover all forms of e-waste, and only provides collection for households and small businesses,” the TEC said.

“Australia is not currently taking sufficient steps to ensure that those who are creating this waste stream are adequately funding the costs of circular economy activities up front,” it added. 

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