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174 P a r t I V : a r t I V : C a s e S t u d i e sa s e S t u d i e s
But what Dell really wants you to know—and remember—is its commitment to the
environment.
Dell—started in the founder’s college dorm room in 1984—is a US$59 billion computer
company that builds, sells, and supports computers, peripherals, and other technology
products.
In 2007, Dell set its sights on being the greenest technology company on the planet. This
is not just a laudable goal for Dell, it is also something that will cause a healthy competition
from its rivals. As more technology companies try to lessen their impact, everyone wins.
Dell has embraced the notion of being green in three areas:
• Environmentally friendly materials
• Energy efficiency
• Recycling and recovery of end-of-life products

In June 2007, Dell launched a number of zero-carbon initiatives:
• Reducing its carbon intensity, or greenhouse gas emissions, by 15 percent by 2012
• Requiring suppliers to report carbon emissions data during quarterly business
reviews
• Partnering with customers to build the “greenest PC on the planet”
• Offsetting carbon with its “Plant a Tree for Me” program

NOTE Dell also coined the term “The Re-Generation.” This refers to people of all ages, all around
the world, who want to make a difference in improving the planet’s environment.

In this section, we’ll take a closer look at what Dell’s doing to be so green. However, we
are not here to give a plug for Dell. We simply hope you will find some of what Dell has
done applicable to your organization.
Recycling Programs
Dell offers a number of recycling opportunities to its customers. Even though they have
been advocates of recycling, as legislation becomes more pronounced for mandating
product recycling, Dell is ratcheting up its efforts.
Dell was the first technology company to establish a product recycling goal in 2004 and
then completed its global consumer recycling program in 2006. In July 2007, Dell announced
that it had exceeded its targets in working toward its multiyear goal of recovering more
than 275 million pounds of computer equipment by 2009. In 2006, Dell announced it has
recovered 78 million pounds of used equipment from customers, a 93 percent increase over
2005. It was also 12.4 percent of the equipment that Dell sold just 7 years before.
Dell favors the producer-responsibility approach to recycling, which requires the producers
to take responsibility for end-of-life equipment. There are three ways that Dell recovers old
computers.