Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, has announced that it is providing three U.S. college and university customers $10,000 grants to be used to conduct computer collection events on campus this spring.
The grants are part of the Dell Higher Education Recycling Leadership Awards, a pilot program created to recognize select customers’ commitment to leadership in the areas of technology innovation, environmental sustainability or campus community recycling.
Recipients of the Dell awards are the University of California-San Francisco, University of Colorado-Boulder and Miami Dade College-Kendall Campus. Each of the selected higher education institutions will conduct a computer collection event at the end of the academic calendar year to coincide with the student move-out period.
Dell initiated the awards program to raise awareness of responsible product end-of-life options, keep computers out of landfills, empower colleges with a model for successful campus collection events and educate college students about responsible computer recycling.
“Conducting a no-charge computer collection event offers colleges and universities an outstanding opportunity to provide a service to the local community and to demonstrate their commitment to environmental sustainability,” Pat Nathan, director of Dell Sustainable Business, says.
The college and university award winners received technical assistance with planning their recycling events in a series of educational forums held in March and led by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC). The purpose of the technical assistance program was to provide opportunities for sharing best practices and lessons learned, in addition to encouraging peer-to-peer interaction among the participating college and university recycling coordinators.
“We’re seeing more colleges and universities that recognize the need to provide recycling options to students moving out of their dorms and apartments at the end of the school year,” Kate Krebs, executive director of the NRC, says.