Sustainability is a key focus for enterprises across all industries. And what may have once been a buzzword for some is now a priority for most, as companies are looking to not only stay in the game but thrive at a higher level of business. Corporations are ramping up their investment in sustainability efforts, pushing the green technology and sustainability market to an expected $134.9 billion by 2030, according to Markets and Markets’ Green Technology & Sustainability report. This marks a sharp increase from $28.6 billion in 2024, with a projected growth rate of 29.5% between 2024-2030, according to the report.
Businesses are not the only ones making greater investments in sustainability — consumers are also willing to pay the price. According to a travel prediction report from Booking.com, more than half (53%) of global travelers are “seeking accommodations that blend comfort with innovative sustainability features,” adding, “sustainability isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a lifestyle.”
Such investments, alongside macro-level efforts, have opened new avenues for sustainability opportunities beyond long-established methods and the traditional “big three,” which include water, electricity, and power conservation.
The “Big Three” Sustainability Focus
Many businesses focus on water conservation, energy efficiency, and power management as their primary sustainability efforts, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is already playing a pivotal role in those arenas.
IoT is an invaluable solution in advancing sustainability by enabling businesses, particularly in facilities management, to conserve resources like water, energy, power, and beyond. For instance, IoT solutions can intelligently track energy consumption rates using non-intrusive, camera-based optical character recognition (OCR) readers, such as a meter, motor, or equipment monitors, to provide real-time data, alerts, and predictive analytics. Such data-driven decisions can help minimize waste, reduce consumption, and deliver significant cost savings, especially for the hospitality industry where energy is one of the largest operational expenses.
IoT-enabled power monitoring solutions provide real-time insights into energy-intensive equipment and processes. This allows operators to optimize equipment usage and anticipate maintenance needs, thereby extending asset lifetimes and further reducing environmental impact.
IoT solutions can also support water conservation, a critical concern in industries that consume high volumes daily. IoT-enabled fixtures, such as smart faucets and flush valves, promote water efficiency in restrooms and other high-use areas, significantly cutting down on unnecessary consumption. While these are vital areas, there is potential to enhance sustainability efforts by addressing additional opportunities at the micro-level, which complement and strengthen the broader strategy.
Broadening Efforts: Every Action—Big or Small—Impacts Sustainability Efforts
Sustainable practices across all industries can extend far beyond water and energy, with many underserved areas offering immense potential for improvement.
There are exciting opportunities for businesses to explore sustainable initiatives—no matter how small they may seem—that make a significant impact. One area where businesses can contribute to sustainability and operational efficiency is by reducing trash and food waste.
“Food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the U.S., comprising 24 and 22 percent of landfilled and combusted municipal solid waste, respectively,” according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. “Reducing and preventing food waste can increase food security, foster productivity and economic efficiency, promote resource and energy conservation, and address climate change,” according to the EPA.
Thanks to IoT-backed solutions, waste reduction is possible. IoT-enabled fill-level sensors can monitor waste and recycling bins and alert staff when they need emptying. This timely management ensures recycling bins remain available and prevents recyclable materials from being incorrectly discarded as trash. Using fill-level sensors on outdoor dumpsters can further enhance sustainability by enabling needs-based waste collection, reducing environmental impact through decreased fuel consumption and emissions.
Smart sensors can also help significantly reduce food waste—a major contributor to environmental degradation for many enterprises—in a myriad of measures. Facilities generate significant food waste, with hotels alone producing an estimated 79,000 tons annually, while restaurants and food-based businesses globally lose as much as $2.6 trillion annually due to food waste, according to The Restaurant HQ. IoT technology helps reduce this waste through automated systems like temperature monitors for refrigerators and freezers, which alert staff in real-time to address temperature issues and prevent food spoilage.
By streamlining processes and reducing manual effort, these IoT solutions enhance food safety, lower environmental impact, and improve profitability. These technologies also streamline compliance reporting and free up staff to focus on customer-facing tasks. Essentially, this sustainability effort pays for itself.
Leveraging IoT for Sustainability in Equipment Usage
Another area ripe for improvement in sustainability practices is measuring equipment utilization. Monitoring usage with IoT solutions helps enterprises optimize energy consumption and reduce emissions. These solutions actively track equipment usage, enabling data-driven decisions to optimize maintenance schedules and reduce unnecessary service visits — enhancing efficiency and lowering emissions. By predicting when equipment needs servicing and proactively alert enterprises, IoT solutions can also help prevent malfunctions that cause downtime and costly waste.
Smart Restroom Solutions for Paper Waste Reduction
Upgrading devices and enhancing equipment usage often leads to simple yet impactful improvements. Enterprises can enlist IoT-enabled smart restroom solutions to help monitor paper and soap dispensers and ensure they are only replaced when necessary. This small upgrade can help businesses reduce paper waste by 50 percent, according to a recent case study.
IoT for Water Conservation Beyond Traditional Methods
While traditional water conservation methods such as automatic valves and faucets can help reduce water waste — there are even more impactful approaches businesses can adopt with IoT technology. Enter proactive leak detection. Enterprises can prevent unnecessary water usage, loss, and damage with IoT-enabled leak detection solutions — an invaluable resolution, as water leaks alone can be the greatest source of water waste, according to the EPA.
IoT-based water flow sensors can detect leaks by monitoring the flow rate of water through pipes and identifying anomalous behavior, while IoT-enabled surface leak sensors detect water presence in unwanted areas, like on floors around appliances. Both sensor types provide proactive monitoring and support real-time alerting to help mitigate water waste and costly damage.
By adopting such IoT solutions, businesses not only reduce waste and emissions but also increase operational efficiency, making considerable progress toward their overall environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
The Role of Technology in Driving Sustainability
Embracing smart, data-driven solutions is key to the future of sustainability. IoT-enabled solutions excel at monitoring and tracking while reducing waste, energy, and water usage at both the macro and micro levels — pivotal to a comprehensive sustainability strategy that delivers immediate, tangible results.
Businesses seeking to enhance their sustainability strategies should explore the potential of IoT solutions (especially scalable ones) to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase return on investment (ROI). Collectively, IoT empowers industry leaders with sustainable solutions, enabling impactful changes, improved profitability, and enhanced operations, making it an essential tool in pursuit of environmental stewardship.
