Eco-Pack Now
By Canadian Packaging Staff
Sustainability beauty industry Dell Fabrication Sustainability milk bags recycled contentAccording to the company’s recently-released FY Corporate Responsibility report, Dell is now within touching distance of its self-imposed goal of boosting recycled content in its packaging to 40 per cent by the end of this year—compared to 2008 levels—while making big strides in making 75 per cent of its packaging recyclable through local curbside pick-up programs by 2012, having reached 57 per cent recently.
The Round Rock, Tex.-headquartered computer hardware manufacturer says these gains underline its commitment to the so-called “Three Cs” packaging strategy it unveiled in December of 2008 to “revolutionize” computer packaging, focusing on the cube (packaging volume); content (what it’s made of); and curbside recyclability of its packaging materials.
“Establishing these packaging goals has transformed my team from great packaging engineers to inspired environmental champions,” says Oliver Campbell, Dell’s senior manager of global packaging. “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.”
Some of the more notable examples of Dell’s efforts in improving its packaging sustainability performance include:
• Being able to fit 63 model Inspiron 15 laptop computers on a single shipping pallet—compared to 54 before—by putting fewer accessory items like disks, catalogs, etc. into the box, enabling it to use smaller-sized boxes. “More laptops on each pallet means more laptops fit into each vehicle, which can result in fewer shipping vehicles and less shipping-related environmental impact,” the Dell report states.
• Increasing the use of recycled foam for shipping heavier products requiring sturdy support, as well as increasing the use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics from items such as milk jugs and detergent bottles. The company claims to have integrated the equivalent of more than 9.5 million half-gallon milk jugs into its packaging, which it says is enough to stretch from Florida to Maine—more than 1,500 miles.
• Last November, Dell became the first technology company to integrate bamboo into its packaging portfolio, hailing it as a strong, renewable and compostable alternative to the molded paper pulp, foams and corrugated cardboard often used in packaging.
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