The Global AV Sustainability Challenge: One Goal, Many Paths

If you manage enterprise technology on a global scale, you already know the friction. You are tasked with standardizing AV integration projects across dozens of countries, but the ground rules change the moment you cross a border.

The industry is waking up to a massive e-waste problem. At ISE 2026 in Barcelona, AVIXA hosted a panel of GPA experts on their AV Unplugged podcast to dissect exactly how the AV industry is tackling sustainability. The reality they uncovered is complex. We all share the same goal of reducing our environmental footprint, but deploying a single, rigid corporate mandate is impossible. Your regional offices are operating in entirely different economic and regulatory realities.

If you are trying to figure out how to operationalize sustainable practices in your next global rollout without breaking budgets or missing local compliance, you are in the right place. Let’s break down the reality on the ground.

How Different Regions are Approaching AV Sustainability

During the 22-minute session on the AVIXA YouTube channel, GPA leaders representing EMEA, the Americas, and APAC revealed how their markets are forcing change.

EMEA: The Era of Radical Transparency and ROI

In mature markets across EMEA, government regulations are the primary catalyst. Marjolein Koens-Schaddelee, based in the Netherlands, detailed how the market has fundamentally shifted.

• Digital Product Passports: It is becoming mandatory to log the CO2 emitted during the manufacturing, distribution, installation, and usage phases of AV products.

• The End of Greenwashing: Sustainability is now a measurable selection criterion in tenders. Procurement has moved from looking solely at price to evaluating ROI and strict sustainability metrics.

• Innovative Solutions: Integrators are actively developing concepts like the CO2-neutral meeting room solution in partnership with manufacturers.

The Americas: Circularity Born of Economic Necessity

What happens when you lack strict government legislation? Virginia Molina, from Argentina and representing the Americas, explained that in her region, sustainability is heavily driven by cultural awareness and economic necessity.

• Extending Lifecycles: Integrators have been extending hardware lifetimes for years out of economic necessity, thereby reducing e-waste.

• Second-Life Programs: When corporate clients upgrade, integrators are actively donating the older, functional equipment to technical schools. This keeps technology out of landfills while providing vital educational resources to local communities.

APAC: Building the Foundations of Compliance

The APAC region is incredibly diverse, representing a highly uneven landscape for sustainability. Priscilla Ho, regularly working in Singapore, highlighted how different nations are setting the pace.

• Varying Net-Zero Targets: Countries are on different timelines, with Japan targeting 2040 and Singapore aiming for 2050.

• Targeted Regulations: Some governments are focusing on specific sectors first, such as Singapore’s mandate for producers to declare and manage packaging waste.

• Corporate Accountability: Large multinational clients are driving the immediate change by demanding proper e-waste disposal plans for their decommissioned electronics, tying these actions directly to their corporate ESG policies.

The GPA Solution: Global Scale, Local Expertise

Solving this global fragmentation requires a totally different approach. You cannot force a European digital passport framework onto a project in the Americas that requires a grassroots circularity approach.

GPA is a registered global company representing 6,500 employees worldwide. Because our regional teams operate as one unified organization, they freely share localized knowledge through internal channels such as the GPA sustainability committee.

This allows a team in the Americas to prepare for the data-driven reporting trends emerging from EMEA, while an APAC team can adopt proven circularity practices. It is about establishing a single global standard, intelligently adapted to local realities.

Key Takeaways for Your Next AV Project

If you are ready to move from strategy to action, the panel offered clear advice for enterprise IT and AV leaders:

• Start Small: Do not wait for perfection. Small, measurable steps make a massive impact at scale.

• Demand Data: Ensure your actions have a real impact by making them achievable and measurable with clear KPIs.

• Plan for End-of-Life: Design your spaces with decommissioning and e-waste disposal in mind from day one.

The critical question is no longer if sustainable technology matters, but how efficiently you can deploy it globally. Invest 22 minutes to watch the full conversation below and see how these leaders are shaping the future of the industry.

Let’s do this together!

Ready to build a greener, more manageable global AV strategy? Contact GPA right away to connect with our experts and learn how we can not only meet the requirements but also help the environment together.