From Ecopedia

About

Founded by Michael Dell in 1984 and headquartered in Round Rock, in Texas, United States, Dell Inc. is a leading global developer of information technology systems. The company’s product offerings include personal computers (PCs), data storage devices, servers, software, computer peripherals, network switches, HDTVs, printers, cameras, MP3 players and many more.

With a global workforce of over 76,500 people, Dell is one of the largest IT corporations in the present-day world.^[1]

Environmental Perspective

In June 2007, Dell decided to go totally green by adopting several environment-friendly policies such as zero-carbon initiative, energy-efficient product designing and recycling among many more.^[2]

Effects on the environment

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While Dell is certainly a massive corporation, and their production processes do in fact contribute to the overall emission of greenhouse gases, they have implemented several corporate policies in an effort to make their company more efficient and greener

Zero-Carbon Policy

Dell introduced a zero-carbon initiative in an effort to reduce the company's carbon intensity by 15% by the year 2012. In order to do so, Dell has made it mandatory for primary suppliers to submit a detailed quarterly report of carbon emissions.^[3] This program also enhances Dells “plant a tree for me”, a carbon-offsetting program to achieve zero-carbon emissions.

Energy Efficiency

Dell aims to minimize the company’s external impact on the environment through energy-efficient product designing apart from undertaking several energy-efficient programs that would promise annual energy savings of over $3 million. Efficient PC power management, in particular, would assure the company internal-energy cost savings of $1.8 million. Their product offerings that include desktops, laptops, workstations, display models as well as printers meet all the stringent environmental requirements needed for Energy Star certification. Additionally, Dell's corporate headquarters located in Round Rock, Texas, is 100% powered by clean energy.^[4] In fact, Dell recently installed solar panels in their parking lot to both provide shade and protection for parked cars, as well as harvest 130 kilowatts of solar power, which is enough to to offset the 145,000 lbs of greenhouse gas emissions annually. These solar panels even provide electric car owners with the ability to recharge their vehicles.^[5]

By adhering to such stringent environmental requirements, Dell managed to drastically reduce energy consumption, apart form minimizing the production of environmentally-sensitive materials during power generation. Most of the Dell’s desktops and workstations consume a minimum of 5 watts energy in a low-power mode. Strict adherence to Energy Star requirements is allowing the company to contribute significantly to reduced air pollution as well as global warming.^[6]

Design for the Environment Program

Dell introduced a new Design for the Environment (DfE) program for efficiently integrating environmental attributes into every aspect of a product lifecycle, right from the management of suppliers during product component manufacturing to the end-of-life product management.

As part of the Zero-Carbon Policy program, Dell is also collaborating with customers to develop the world's greenest personal computer.

Packaging and Recycling

Dell’s efforts towards promoting healthier global environment prompted the company to introduce bamboo-use into product packaging. As an efficient earth-friendly alternative to traditional packaging material, bamboos exhibit excellent compostable and biodegradable properties.

Dell’s products such as Bamboo Cushions Cradling Dell Notebooks are packaged using mechanically pulped bamboos collected from a Chinese bamboo forest that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Dell’s bamboo packaging even received the approval of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D-640, for exhibiting compostable and sustainable properties.^[7]

In 2004, Dell set forth a product recycling goal to achieve computer equipment recovery. By 2009, Dell managed to exceed the targets and achieved 275 million pounds of the equipment.

Recognizing the company’s efforts in promoting recycling of computer components, the National Recycling Coalition in 2007 rewarded the company with “Recycling Works” award.^[8]

In order to minimize delays in product purchases and product delivery, Dell implements a faster and efficient ‘just-in-time’ production approach, which assures minimal inventory costs.^[9]

References

1. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell
2. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell
3. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell
4. ↑ http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2008/2008_04_02_rr_000?c=us&l=en
5. ↑ http://gizmodo.com/5389133/dells-new-solar-parking-lot
6. ↑ http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/environment/en/prod_design_main?c=us&l=en
7. ↑ http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/press-releases/2010-05-11-compostable-bamboo.aspx
8. ↑ http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/press-releases/2010-05-11-compostable-bamboo.aspx
9. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell