mail.com: Committed to environmental sustainability

Our mission

Email that’s good for our planet

mail.com is committed to using resources responsibly and reducing our environmental impact. Along the entire supply chain and starting with energy sourcing, we prioritize sustainability in our decision-making processes.

Not only do we continuously improve the efficiency of our facilities; we also minimize our CO₂ emissions through the use of green energy. New email and cloud servers are built with the most energy-efficient technologies possible, and recycled or disposed of properly at the end of their service lives.

Shrinking our footprint

Climate-friendly email

To cut our CO₂ emissions and shrink the climate impact of sending and receiving email, mail.com utilizes energy from renewable sources wherever possible.

With annual power consumption of 13 GWh, our data center in Lenexa, KS runs completely on wind power. We offset the carbon footprint of our headquarters in Philadelphia, PA with renewable energy certificates. This makes mail.com an extremely climate-friendly internet service.

Carbon-neutral data center

Our data center in Kansas runs on 100% wind energy. In other locations, we use renewable energy or offset our carbon emissions.

843 metric tons less CO₂

Together with other United Internet AG companies, in 2023 we were able to reduce CO₂ emissions by 843 metric tons through the responsible recycling of old hardware.

Expert certification

The state-of-the-art, ISO 50001-compliant energy management systems in our data centers continuously track, manage and optimize energy efficiency. They are audited and certified annually by experts.

Optimizing technology and minimizing environmental impacts

Lowering energy consumption

Lowering our energy consumption is just as important as sustainable energy sourcing. Regularly upgrading our data center infrastructure reduces energy loss during operation.

By optimizing IT, we maximize customer benefit while minimizing our environmental impact.

Hardware and software optimized for efficiency

Our data centers use state-of-the-art hardware optimized to save energy. Low-power processors are designed to minimize heat losses and require less energy.

We use a Linux-based web hosting system that allows us to deliver optimal performance at high loads, managing the data from thousands of customers on a single server. This lets us reduce the total number of servers needed. The use of containers reduces redundancy on the operating system kernel and allows load-based scaling of IT resources. And thanks to virtualization, we can increasingly replace dedicated servers with cloud servers.

Smart cooling

In addition to the resources needed to power the servers themselves, cooling requires a considerable amount of energy. We have been applying big data analysis and machine learning to identify more efficient methods for data-center management.

The cooling systems and the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units in our data center in Lenexa have been upgraded to a much more efficient system that reduces energy losses.

More sustainability initiatives

Business travel

mail.com headquarters transport train car bicycle

Climate-compatible travel

All our energy-efficient offices are equipped with the latest in digital tools for instant messaging and video conferencing. These make cross-country collaboration possible — without the need for cross-country travel.

When long-distance trips are necessary, our employees are encouraged to travel by train if possible. We also support programs for carpooling and alternative, climate-friendly forms of transport. In addition, we work to ensure our fleet of company vehicles is always state of the art, both environmentally and economically. As of 2021, electric vehicles can be purchased, and there is a per-vehicle CO₂ emission cap of 160 g/km.

Recycling

Reducing our footprint

Once our servers have reached the end of their service life, they are recycled and disposed of appropriately. Our employees are also encouraged to recycle trash at work.

In 2023, 105 metric tons of hardware from United Internet AG were reclaimed or recycled by our partner AfB, leading to an overall reduction in our carbon footprint of more than 843 metric tons.

For more information on our environmental policies and about corporate social responsibility, please see:
Sustainability Report 2023 online
Sustainability Report 2023 as PDF.