Dell Inc. announced 20 grant winners whose awards of $10,000 each are to be used to conduct computer collection events across the United States this fall. The winners were selected from a group of nearly 175 applicants that included state and local governments, higher education institutions and non-profit organizations.
Each grantee will use the award to organize, promote, stage and recycle computer equipment in a free "No Computer Should Go To Waste" collection event in their community.
"Raising consumer awareness of the need to responsibly recycle electronics is one of the key challenges our industry faces, and Dell is committed to doing its part. The grant program empowers communities to begin developing local programs that will help retire used computers and the resulting events illustrate to consumers the importance of recycling rather than wasting used computers," said Pat Nathan, Dell's Sustainable Business Director.
Recipients of Dell's Recycling Grant Program awards for fall 2004 are:
Mobile, Ala. - Keep Mobile Beautiful, Inc.
Tucson, Ariz. - World Care
Los Angeles - Goodwill Industries of Southern California
Aurora, Colo. - GIVES Inc.
Tallahassee, Fla. - Leon County
Kailua-Kona County, Hawaii - Department of Environmental Management, County of Hawaii
Oak Park, Ill. - Public Works Department
Indianapolis - City of Indianapolis, Department of Public Works
Baton Rouge, La. - Capital Area Corporate Recycling Council
Berkshire, Mass. - Center for Ecological Technology
Baltimore - Johns Hopkins University, Recycling Program
St. Louis - Hi-Tech Charities
Bozeman, Mont. - Gallatin Local Water Quality District
Bergen County, N.J. - Bergen County Utilities Authority
Albuquerque, N.M. - Solid Waste Management Department, City of Albuquerque
Onondaga County, N.Y. - Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA)
Chautauqua County, N.Y. - Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County
Boone County, Ky. - Full Circle Group
State of Rhode Island - Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation
Richmond, Va. - Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
As part of the program, grantees will receive technical assistance and guidance from the National Recycling Coalition to aid in the success of their events. NRC will conduct a series of training sessions to share best practices and encourage interaction among grant recipients. The training will include strategies for developing effective partnerships for collection and selection of responsible recyclers, fund raising strategies, as well as media and community outreach.
"These grants will empower communities from Hawaii to New York to initiate the important process of building public-private partnerships that will find innovative solutions to address the e-scrap recycling challenge," said Kate Krebs, executive director of the National Recycling Coalition.
The grant review board, consisting of Dell, federal government and environmental and recycling organization representatives, based its selections on considerations of the quality of the collaborative effort, prospects for successful programs, geographic diversity, sustainability of the program beyond the grant period and the ability to leverage the local community's existing recycling infrastructure.
Dell remains a partner in the Environmental Protection Agency's Resource Conservation Challenge education program, "Plug-In To eCycling."