In December 2019, the European Commission presented the European Green Deal with the ambition of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, boosting the economy, improving people's health and quality of life, caring for nature, and leaving no one behind.

Digitalisation will be at the core of this ambitious program and fibre is key to align the digital and sustainability agendas. As the most sustainable telecommunication infrastructure technology, full-fibre is a prerequisite to achieving the European Green Deal and making the European Union’s economy more sustainable.

The need to work collectively towards a more sustainable society has become a strategic objective of policy makers and the vast majority of private organisations alike. With this context in mind, the sustainability Working Group of the FTTH Council Europe has been created with two key objectives:

  • Promote full fibre as the most sustainable access network technology and enabler of multiple applications which can contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of our activities. Remote working and learning being the most obvious examples.
  • Support all stakeholders of the Fibre to the Home value chain in their efforts to make their respective activities more carbon neutral.

Insights from the Committee

 

 

Driving Sustainability and Circularity in the European FTTH Sector

Jul 3, 2025
Committee News | Sustainability Committee |

The Sustainability Committee is entering a new phase. Over the past two years, we have worked intensively on the pilot project for the FTTH Eco Platform, and over the last year, significant time and energy have been dedicated to its market introduction. Of course, we will continue our efforts to encourage more members—and non-members—to join the FTTH Eco Platform, enabling us to measure the impact of CO₂ reduction projects and other sustainability initiatives across our community.

Through the FTTH Eco Platform, we bring this data together and create a unique overview of the European FTTH sector’s pathway to Net Zero. To strengthen this effort, we call on all FTTH Council members to register and actively participate in the FTTH Eco Platform.

Integrating the FTTH sector into the EU Taxonomy is another important goal for this year. This is a collaborative project involving several Committees, and during the summer, we expect another consultation round on a draft plan for the EU Code of Conduct for the Sustainability of Telecommunications Networks, to which we will submit a joint response. Encouragingly, after the first consultation round, several of the FTTH Council’s proposals were already adopted. Final decisions on the sector’s inclusion in the EU Taxonomy are expected in 2026.

Circularity is also inextricably linked to sustainability. When is a product truly circular, and how can this be determined? The Sustainability Committee will address this for the FTTH sector. Using the Circular Transition Indicators developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, we aim to develop sector-specific guidance that will make it possible to calculate the circularity of optical fibre products.

Members interested in contributing to this working group are invited to contact the Committee Chair.

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