As an open water swimmer, it pains me to see so much waste and plastic floating around in our seas and oceans. Did you know, in some places, plastic particles already outnumber plankton by 26 to 1.
That’s not good. Not for marine life. Not for the planet. And ultimately, not for us.
What we’ve been doing
Luckily, there’s much that we can do and it fills me with joy to see that many individuals and companies are taking steps to avoid waste altogether.
I, for one, am proud that we, as Dell Technologies, have already achieved our 2020 sustainability goals in 2019. Some highlights:
- We recovered 2 billion pounds of used electronics two years ahead of schedule.
- 100 million pounds of sustainable materials were used in our products since 2014.
- We reduced the energy intensity of our product portfolio by 64% since 2012.
- Laptop efficiencies were improved: on average, a Dell laptop requires only $3 in annual electricity costs to operate.
It doesn’t end there. While these big projects and numbers are impressive, changing the world often begins with trying out new things on a smaller scale before you upscale them. For example…
- Since 2017, Dell has produced 125,000 boxes per month using pollution ink. Indian based Chakr Innovation has developed a technology that captures 90% of the particulate matter emitted from diesel generators and converts it into material that can be used for commercial products, such as paint and ink. That really is ‘Innovating out of thin air’.
What we’ll continue to do
But there’s still so much more that we can do!
As Dell Technologies, we’ve listed our objectives for the future in our 2030 Vision, stating that….
- We protect our planet and inspire our customers and partners to do the same.
- We accelerate the circular economy by collecting plastics from coastal areas and bringing them back into the economy by using them in our packaging.
For example, we’ll continue to work with suppliers to collect, process and mix plastics with other recycled material to create molded trays used for packaging select products. These trays are 25% ocean-bound plastic and 75% recycled PET, using no virgin materials. It’s also fully recyclable itself.
We also established a closed loop for recycling gold from e-waste which we put back into new motherboards. Urban mining is crucial, as the environmental impacts of recycling gold are 11times lower than mined gold!
As an individual, you can do a lot too. Not use plastic cups anymore when you take your coffee. At our Montpellier site for example, we’ve banned all single-use plastic altogether.
We all know we’re not there yet. But it’s hopeful to see we’re making progress.
Let’s all keep it up!
For us. For our children. And for our seas and oceans.
