Dell and Goodwill Industries are extending their five-year recycling partnership to six additional states – Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont. A total of 18 states are now covered by the program, with more than 1,000 Goodwill stores participating.
The expansion is partially a response to Dell research which showed that close to 80 percent of would-be recyclers believed there was value left in the technology they were donating, Mike Watson, senior manager of Dell Global Recycling Services, told ZDNet.
So far, the partnership has collected about 50 million pounds of technology equipment, according to Susanne Fredericks, business innovation and development for Goodwill.
Dell also launched Dell Exchange, a free online trade-in system that offers customers gift cards in exchange for their unwanted electronics. The exchange even offers an option to wipe confidential information off your system, but a $15 service fee will be deducted for that extra step, according to PC Magazine.
Dell was one of the top purchasers of renewable energy in 2008. Last December, the company began implementing a new computer packaging plan that it says will save more than $8 million and eliminate about 20 million pounds of packaging material over the next four years.
Dell reported recovery of 102 million pounds of IT equipment from customers during 2007, a 20 percent increase over 2006, its largest single-year product recycling volume.
