Dell Announces Recovery Rates for 2004

Erin Spinka

Round Rock, Texas -- Dell has released its "2004 Sustainability Report," which states that approximately 35 million pounds of computer products were recovered by the company’s U.S. operations in fiscal year 2004, ended Jan. 30. The company collected the computer products through: Dell consumer recycling; asset recovery services for businesses, governments and schools; donations; Dell-sponsored recycling events; lease returns; and retired Dell-owned equipment, customer returns and excess spare parts.

The recovery rate for 2004 shows a 50 percent increase in weight volume from 2003 collections, and the company says it again intends to increase recovery rates by 50 percent for the first four categories in fiscal year 2005. Despite the progress, the company says the amount of recovered products for 2004 actually represents less than 10 percent of Dell products sold in 2000. Therefore, the company also has announced it will develop global reporting methods so that it can track product recovery on a more global basis.

The company hopes that raising customer awareness and its recycling grant program, launched this year, will continue to raise recovery rates. To see the company’s sustainability report, visit http://www.dell.com/environment.