Sustainability Report - Dell

Stage 4: Equipment End-of-Life StrategiesDell aims to make product retirement as easy as productpurchase for our customers. By offering asset recovery, redeployment,lease return, donation and recycling options for businessesand consumers, Dell makes it easy and affordable forcustomers to responsibly dispose of their unwanted computerequipment. Dell strives to maximize reuse opportunities in alldisposition channels. Dell and our financial arm, Dell FinancialServices, have offered various forms of asset recovery servicessince 1991.Dell Product Recovery GuidelinesDell recovery programs vary globally to reflect customer, culturaland regulatory requirements, as well as infrastructure availability.Dell's Recovery and Waste DispositionEnvironmental Guidelines provide consistent guidance for allof Dell's disposal channels globally. The guidelines state thatDell will endeavor to maximize reuse opportunities, and areintended to provide an infrastructure to appropriately manageelectronic waste, generated both from customers and throughDell service and manufacturing operations. For more information,see www.dell.com/disposalguidelines.All of Dell's product recovery partners are required to adhere toDell's high standards through a detailed protocol for audit,security, destructive data overwrite, and downstream channelaccountability. This audit protocol is administered consistently,worldwide, by a third-party environmental audit partner.Global Product Recovery ProgramsU.S. Asset Recovery ServicesFor institutional customers, Dell provides asset recoveryprograms to ensure safe disposition of nonfunctional orobsolete computer technology. Dell provides services thatallow organizations to place as much care and emphasis on theproper management of decommissioning technology as they doon the acquisition and ongoing support of those assets. AssetRecovery Services (ARS) is a suite of services that allowsbusiness customers to choose to recycle or resell their old oroutdated computer equipment. This service includes desktopcomputers, notebook computers, servers, storage and networkequipment, monitors, printers, projectors, batteries, andcomputer peripherals such as keyboards and mice.Dell offers multiple solutions for disposing of a business'sused computer equipment:• Value Recovery: Recover value from used equipment.(Value gained from the sale of used equipment is returnedto the customer.)• Recycling: Recycle used equipment that has noresale value.• Donation: Reuse channels available for both businessand consumer customers.• Lease Return: Process end-of-lease equipment andoptimize all remaining value or redeployment.These services offer customers a number of benefits:• Data security: Removes tags and labels from equipmentand overwrites hard drives• Decreased costs: Eliminates cost of storing excess,outdated or used computer equipment• Increased savings: Provides potential cash back fromvalue recovery services• Proper disposal: Ensures customers that equipment is disposedof in accordance with all state, local, and federal laws• Logistics: Provides logistics and disposition infrastructureto properly manage the recycling or resale of old computerequipment (Service includes scheduling, packaging whenrequired and pickup.)• Accountability: Provides a single point-of-contact,end-to-end visibility, and detailed data security andenvironmental reports• Decreased hassle: Frees customers to focus on theircore businessFor more information on Dell's Asset Recovery Services,see www.dell.com/assetrecovery.U.S. Asset Recovery Services Customer Wins in 2005The following information provides some highlights of newcustomers who chose Dell to provide Asset Recovery Servicesin 2005.State of MichiganMichigan's Department of Information Technology (DIT) tappedDell in 2005 to manage removal, refurbishment and retirementof computer equipment from state agencies. Dell initially collectedmore than 2,000 systems the state had been storing, andran a destructive data overwrite on hard drives before refurbishingor recycling them. Michigan DIT is making the sameprogram available to local governments, schools and other nonprofitsthroughout the state. Michigan DIT expects to conservestate resources by retiring computer equipment more efficientlythrough the Dell ARS program. The recycling program will helpensure obsolete equipment is responsibly handled and willdivert these products from the state's waste stream. In additionto the agreement with the State of Michigan, Dell and the58 D E L L S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y R E P O R T • F I S C A L Y E A R 2 0 0 6