Dell-Goodwill Partnership Fuels Record E-Waste Recycling
<p>The 150 million pounds of electronics waste Dell recovered in fiscal 2011 puts the company about two-thirds of the way to its overarching goal of recycling one billion pounds of e-waste by 2014.</p>
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Dell recycled more than 150 million pounds of electronics globally in fiscal year 2011, the computer giant said today.
This puts the company about two-thirds of the way to its overarching goal of recycling one billion pounds of electronics waste (e-waste) by 2014. The FY 2011 figure was about 16 percent higher than the year before.
The company credits its partnership with Goodwill Industries with helping it to make strides in the amount of end-of-life goods it recovers in North America, including used computers, monitors, printers, scanners and other pieces of equipment. The Dell Reconnect partnership helped Dell collect 95 million pounds of e-waste last year.
Dell received a top score in a recent ranking of computer, television, printer and game console companies for their efforts to take back and recycle their products. Dell scored a B grade, in large part for becoming the first IT manufacturer to enact a policy that wouldn't export its non-working e-waste to developing countries.
The company recently made headlines when it said it would begin shipping its servers in mushroom-based packaging instead of foam. Mushroom roots are added to cotton seed or wood fiber waste, where it digests the material to form cushions that can protect heavier electronics equipment.
Dell said in late 2010 that it had reduced the energy consumption of its desktop and laptop computers by 25 percent, meeting a goal set two years ago.
Image CC licensed by Flickr user Pink Sherbert Photography.
