Against Electronic Waste – The Fight for the Environment

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The fight against E-Waste begins with every device manufactured
Electronic waste , or E-Waste, is a growing problem worldwide. The latest available report from the E-Waste Monitor indicates that, in 2019, electronic waste amounted to no less than 53.6 million tons worldwide. This represents a 21% increase in the last 5 years. At this rate, in 2030 we will reach 74 million tons, that is, we will double the E-Waste worldwide in just 16 years. Something that will significantly harm the environment.

Electronic waste is currently the fastest growing household waste stream worldwide. The more electronic devices and equipment are sold, the more waste increases. The main problem is that a very small percentage of electronic devices are recycled: 17.4% in 2019.

Electronic waste that affects the environment
This means that most of the highly valuable materials, such as gold, silver, copper how to get usa phone number platinum, present in these devices were burned or dumped in landfills. The value of the non-recycled materials is estimated at more than $57 billion.

To round out the data, the E-Waste Monitor report indicates that waste and scrap are generated unevenly around the world: the largest volume of waste from electrical equipment in 2019 was produced in Asia (about 24.9 million tonnes), America (13.1 million tonnes) and Europe (12 million tonnes), while in Africa and Oceania 2.9 and 0.7 million tonnes were generated respectively.

That is, the greater the consumption of devices, the more waste from electrical and electronic equipment is generated.

Sustainable devices for a better world
Responsibility for electronic waste begins with the manufacturers and ends with the end user, whether a company, professional or individual, who takes their devices to a recycling center once their useful life is over.

Reusing different components and safely removing polluting materials such as mercury, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are actions that will greatly reduce the amount of electronic waste in the world and improve the maintenance of the environment in the medium/long term.

A major problem is that improper management of e-waste contributes to global warming . By not recycling e-waste, new raw materials have to be extracted. This means that it is not possible to reduce emissions from such extraction and refining, as is possible by recycling components.

That's why Dell Technologies is committed to achieving an ambitious goal by 2030: for every new device or product a customer purchases, an equivalent product will be recycled.

In addition, we will manufacture the containers and packaging of our products with 100% recycled material , and more than half of the components of our equipment will be made with recycled or renewable raw materials.

We firmly believe that we can change the global trend regarding waste of electrical equipment and that is why we ensure that our production chain is sustainable at every point. These are the points that make the difference:

By design : Our products include environmentally friendly materials, and use efficient designs aimed at using less materials that are, at the same time, recyclable and reusable.
During manufacturing we enhance operational efficiency and conservation. We use renewable energy and minimize waste generation.
We use renewable packaging materials , and maintain a minimal carbon footprint.
We work towards energy efficiency , and that is why, since 2011, we have reduced the average energy intensity of our products by 69.9%.
At the end of the useful life of the devices, we offer our customers free return for subsequent recycling .
Materials, key to sustainable production
There are many ways to include recycled material in the production chain. At Dell, we use materials from oceans, bioplastics and also material from discarded products. This saves huge amounts of water and energy, and prevents thousands of tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

When we collect devices or products that have reached the end of their useful life, we remove components and materials to avoid manufacturing new ones. This is known as closed-loop recycling, and it saves costs and minimises waste. By including recyclable or reusable materials from the design stage, we greatly enhance the beneficial effects of closed-loop recycling.

In addition, we recover thousands of kilos of plastic from the oceans every year. This creates serious environmental problems, and at the same time, it is a source of recyclable plastic that we include in our production chain to manufacture our products. Another recovered material is carbon fiber, of which we have recovered more than 900 tons from the aerospace industry from landfills.

Other materials we use are bioplastics. These are a type of plastic derived from plant products, rather than being derived from petroleum. Pine oil, soybean oil, corn or potato starch are usually used. Their main advantage is that they achieve significant reductions in CO2 emissions per tonne manufactured compared to traditional plastic.

Our Latitude 5000 and Precision 3560 series feature bioplastics , for example, while our product packaging uses 100% recycled molded paper pulp. This is the path we will follow to achieve our 2030 goals, as part of the Progress Made Real initiative .