Dell Reduces Use of Packaging Material as Part of Its Green Initiative

Dell (News - Alert) announced that it has eliminated the use of more than 18.2 million pounds of packaging material since 2008 as part of its initiative to make product packaging more convenient and eco-friendly.

The company made this announcement in its Corporate Responsibility report. The reductions follow a “three Cs” packaging strategy adopted by the company with focuses on the Cube or packaging volume; Content or the material used in the packaging and Curbside recyclability of its packaging materials.

Dell sources added that packaging content and curbside recyclability targets have been pursued successfully. Since 2008, the company has increased the amount of recycled content in its packaging to approximately 32 percent. Dell is now 94 percent of the way to achieving its stated goal of increasing recycled content in packaging to 35 percent by 2010, according to officials.

The success of this initiative means that Dell’s packaging materials can now be conveniently recycled by customers using their local curbside pick-up programs. The company is striving to reach 75 percent by the end of 2012.

Oliver Campbell, Dell’s senior manager of Global Packaging said, “Establishing these packaging goals has transformed my team from great packaging engineers to inspired environmental champions.”

“The progress we’ve made has kept a lot of materials out of landfills, made responsible packaging disposal easier for customers and is making Dell a more environmentally responsible company,” Campbell added.

The amount of recycled content that goes into the packages has been increased. For heavier products that require sturdy support, the company has increased the use of recycled foam instead of using virgin product. The company uses post-consumer recycled or PCR (News - Alert) plastics obtained from items such as milk jugs and detergent bottles.

Dell has also incorporated bamboo in its packages. Bamboo being a strong, renewable and compostable material is a better alternative to molded paper pulp, foams and corrugated cardboard. The company’s many products including Inspiron Mini 10 and 10v netbooks; new five inch hybrid device, Streak and other Inspiron laptops are being packaged with bamboo products.

In its endeavor to make “being green” easy and cost-effective for its customers, Dell promoted the idea of using product packaging that is curbside recyclable. Dell selects recyclable materials for its packaging, including PCR plastics and molded paper pulp.

According to company sources, as renewable and compostable, bamboo packaging isn’t yet accepted by many municipal packaging programs, Dell is teaming with Georgia Pacific, Unisource Global Services and Environmental Packaging International to certify its bamboo packaging for recycling.