Dell Says It Is Ahead of Recycling Goal

Dell Inc., Round Rock, Texas, has announced that it is ahead of schedule to achieve a multi-year goal of recovering and recycling 137,500 tons of computer equipment by 2009. The company also renewed a challenge to other computer manufacturers to offer free recycling to consumers.

Dell reported the recovery of nearly 40,000 tons of unwanted information technology equipment from customers in 2006, a 93 percent increase over 2005. The figure represents 12.4 percent, by weight, of the equipment it sold seven years earlier.

“Protecting the environment is too important an issue for one company to be leading alone,” says Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell. “Customers should not be forced into improper disposal due to a lack of environmentally responsible options. To that end, we are renewing our challenge to every computer manufacturer, regardless of size or location, to join us in offering a free, global consumer recycling program. It is the right thing for our customers and the earth we share.”

Among the company’s initiatives to encourage product recovery and recycling:

• Free Consumer Recycling: Dell offers consumers no-charge recycling services for its own branded computer equipment worldwide without requiring new product purchases. The company completed the rollout of its global recycling program in 2006.

• Reconnect Program: Dell partners with Goodwill Industries to help consumers donate unwanted electronics of any brand for intake at Goodwill sites. The program is currently available in Central and South Texas, Philadelphia and New Jersey, San Diego and San Francisco, the state of Michigan, western North Carolina and the Pittsburgh area. Dell says the program helps ensure equipment collected is handled under Dell’s product-recovery guidelines.

• Asset Recovery Services: Dell helps institutional customers manage the retirement of used and unwanted IT equipment by offering a range of product recovery services.

• Product Donation: Through a partnership with the National Cristina Foundation (NCF), Dell enables customers to donate any working computer system to non-profit organizations in their areas. NCF matches consumer donations to local not-for-profit organizations, public agencies and schools. The program is available in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and parts of Brazil.

Earlier this year, the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) chose Dell to receive its annual Recycling Works award for efforts to promote individual producer responsibility. The company also recently worked alongside policymakers and stakeholders to help pass a producer responsibility law in Texas.

The latest worldwide recovery totals are part of the company’s 2007 sustainability report, available at www.dell.com/sustainabilityreport.