Greener Products

Sustainability Questions

Where can I find Dell’s corporate responsibility or sustainability report?

Dell’s 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report can be found here. An archive of prior reports can be found here.

What is Dell’s Design for Environment program?

Environmental considerations are a key part of the product design process at Dell. We continually work to eliminate environmentally-sensitive materials from our products. This work is guided in part by our Chemical Use Policy. You can also find more information on our next generation technologies here.

Improving energy efficiency in Dell products is an evolutionary activity included as a part of the Dell product development cycle. You can find the latest information on those efforts here.

Dell’s Packaging Engineering Team continuously develops and reviews improved packing methods that use the least amount of packaging material possible while still protecting product shipments. Dell is committed to the elimination of 20 million pounds of packaging material over the next four years. For more on this initiative please visit here.

Are Dell's products certified according to any eco-label standards?

Yes, Dell certifies our OptiPlex™ desktop product line according to industry standards such as TCO 99/03, Blue Angel and ENERGY STAR®. In addition, Dell provides TCO-certified monitors and Blue Angel-certified printers. Information regarding eco-label certification can be found on Dell's Environmental Datasheets. Datasheets are located here.

How does Dell comply with various environmental regulations?

Dell complies with the applicable environmental regulations or legislation wherever we do business. In many cases our environmental programs and policies exceed many legal requirements. For example, Dell products that are currently shipped in Europe are compliant with the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive and we are extending this requirement to our global product lines.

What is Dell doing to reduce the environmental impact of your own facilities?

Our emissions impacts are relatively low but we have a number of efforts underway to minimize them further, including the purchase of renewable energy sources for some of our power needs. We also have strong recycling programs inside our facilities. Our manufacturing facility recycled and reused more than 95.4% of nonhazardous waste from manufacturing operations and our goal is to recycle or reuse 99% of waste from manufacturing operations by 2012.

Can you tell me more about Dell’s recycling efforts?

Dell supports a policy of individual producer responsibility. In short, we believe we should recycle the products that we make and sell worldwide. We offer consumers free recycling of used Dell-branded computer equipment at any time, and free recycling of other brands of used computer equipment with the purchase of new Dell computers. We also have donation programs in place in a number of markets that place working used systems with non-profit organizations.

How does Dell communicate its RoHS compliance plans to customers?

Dell's RoHS and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) policies can be found here.

What is Dell's RoHS verification process?

Dell requires suppliers to sign a Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDoC), modeled after ISO/IEC 17050-1, to ensure that all product materials comply with Dell’s chemical policy. This documentation is required for the release of parts into production. A signed SDoC indicates that a product meets the Dell Materials Restricted for Use specification and records any applicable exemptions. Dell may request additional technical documentation such as internal design controls, supplier declarations or analytical test data. Our objective is to collect supplier declarations for each part in a product’s bill of materials.

A second tier in our compliance verification strategy is our supplier RoHS audit program, which includes a traditional audit and an in-depth supplier survey.

What can businesses and public institutions do with their unwanted IT assets when they are ready for upgrade or disposal?

Dell offers product recovery services to business and institutional customers in most major markets, including Europe and North America. Dell's Asset Recovery Services, offered to business and institutional customers, provides reverse logistics, value recovery and reporting. The program is available at here.

Does Dell's recycling program include printers?

Yes. Dell has a comprehensive recycling program for printer hardware and printer ink and toner cartridges. In fact, in March 2003, Dell began to offer its Continental U.S. customers, who purchase a new Dell printer, the option of recycling their outdated printers at no additional cost - an industry first among major electronics companies

How do you manage the disposal of equipment you collect for recycling?

Dell’s recycling partners must meet stringent standards for environmental and safety practices. We prohibit the export of environmentally-sensitive waste to developing nations. This is required by contract with our vendors and enforced through regular third-party audits.

Where can I find information on the environmental attributes of Dell's products?

We post Environmental Data Sheets for many of our desktop, laptop and server/storage products here.

What is Dell doing to design more environmentally friendly products?

Dell designs and engineers its products to prevent pollution and conserve natural resources throughout the system's life cycle. Dell's Design for Environment (DfE) program incorporates, at the product development stage, environmental attributes such as reduction of environmentally sensitive materials, increased energy efficiency and extension of product life span and Design for Disassembly. More information on Dell's DfE program may be found here

Does Dell use brominated flame retardants such as PBB and PBDE in their products?

Dell has restricted its suppliers' use of polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDE) (including deca-BDE) due to concerns over the potential adverse environmental and health impacts of these compounds. Furthermore, brominated flame retardants (BFR) are restricted in Dell desktop, laptop, s erver and peripheral product chassis plastic parts. Dell chassis enclosures are primarily made of PC+ABS or ABS plastic resins. Printed circuit boards typically contain BFR such as Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Dell is working with suppliers and organizations such as International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) and High Density Packaging User Group International (HDPUG) to evaluate "BFR-free" flame retardants considering all aspects such as technical, environmental, health and fire safety.

Does Dell have a timeline for complete phaseout of BFR and PVC?

We currently avoid the use of BFRs and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by using plastics that can be flame retarded with non-halogenated compounds and by using design strategies that reduce the need to use flame retarded plastics at all. If alternatives are not yet viable, Dell works with its industry partners to promote new industry standards and the development of reliable, environmentally sound, and economically scalable technical solutions.

Our current BFR and PVC restrictions include prohibiting the use of:

• PBBs and PBDEs (including deca-BDE) for all applications
• All other BFRs (including TBBPA and hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD) in mechanical plastic parts for desktops, notebook and server products as well as TCO-certified displays and Blue Angel-certified printers
• All BFRs in mechanical plastic parts for all Dell products developed after June 2006
• PVC in mechanical plastic parts and product packaging

More information can be found here.

Does Dell use CFCs during the manufacturing process and do Dell products contain CFCs?

Dell prohibits the use of ozone depleting substances (Class I & Class II CFCs and HCFCs) in manufacturing processes and product design.

What is WEEE? Are Dell products compliant with the EU WEEE requirements?

WEEE, or Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment, is a European directive addressing end-of-life treatment of products. The directive requires products to be labeled with the WEEE ‘wheelie-bin’ mark and to include printed customer information on WEEE. Dell approached this as a global directive — all products worldwide should have the WEEE label. Dell implemented both requirements of WEEE on or before the August 13, 2005 compliance deadline.

Do Dell products comply with EU Battery Directive 2006/66/EC?

Dell complies with the EU Battery Directive 2006/66/EC, by declaration, design and labeling.

1. The limits of mercury, cadmium and lead are located in the 6T198 document as a specification for (non-industrial) batteries used by Dell Industrial batteries (usually lead acid) are covered by a different EU Directive. Suppliers declare compliance through the SDoc system. Mercury, cadmium and lead are not used in Dell batteries, and are not a byproduct or contaminant of the manufacturing process for batteries Dell utilizes.
2. Dell marks products with the appropriately-sized crossed out wheelie bin designation required by the EU Battery Directive. The battery labeling specification ENG0004262 includes this requirement.

Has Dell performed an environmental lifecycle analysis (LCA) of their product or service?

Dell routinely conducts LCA on our products categories, including desktops, which allows us to understand the product environmental lifecycle implications. LCA produces product Eco-design Indicators such as product energy consumption and metals/plastic content, among others, which help Dell identify the most meaningful environmental performance attributes. Dell participated in the EPIC-ICT project, which was funded by the EU Commission. For more information on this project, including life cycle assessment results, please see the EPIC-ICT project homepage.

Does Dell publish target energy consumption of major products?

Since 2006 Dell Optiplex systems have reduced annual energy consumption by 50%, and an additional 25% is anticipated by 2010. Dell offers high efficiency power supplies; up to 90% efficiency within the Dell Optiplex desktops. Dell offers ENERGY STAR and Energy Smart configurations across all of the Optiplex, Precision™ and Latitude™ lines of business, and some consumer systems as well.

For more than a decade, Dell has actively partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR program. ENERGY STAR products reduce energy consumption, thereby reducing electricity costs for our customers, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants generated during power generation. Dell works with a number of industry groups and participates in several global initiatives, including:

• AeA Europe: Dell is an active member of the American Electronics Association (AeA) Europe and leads the Energy-using Products (EuP) issue group.

• ASHRAE: The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, which advances the art and science of heating, ventilation, airconditioning and refrigeration to promote sustainability.
• DMTF: The Distributed Management Task Force, which is leading an industry effort to ensure that all energy-related and power consumption components in a system are interoperable, can communicate with management systems and can support virtualization.
• Ecma International: An internationally based standards organization, which is leading the development of international IT standards, including an effort focused on energy efficiency.
• The Green Grid: An association of IT professionals, which seeks to lower the overall consumption of power in data centers around the globe. As a founding member, Dell joined other IT companies to encourage the private and public sector to develop and use power-conserving information technologies. For more information, see www.thegreengrid.org

Does Dell use dimetilfumarato, the substance for dehumidifying, in any of the products?

No. Dell products do not contain dimetilfumarato in either its product or packaging. 

What is Dell doing to reduce mercury from its products?

Currently, Dell offers a variety of Dell notebooks with mercury-free LED (light-emitting diode) backlighting. Dell plans to transition all of its new laptop displays to LED by the end of 2009. Click here to learn more about the Mercury Reduction Initiative.

Does Dell packaging comply with the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) requirements?

Yes. Dell’s Logistics team has already implemented ISPM standards. ISPM15 markings are required for those pallets that have been heat treated within those standards for those pallets that we ship from US facilities to Canada and Central/South America.

Does Dell use any recycled materials in the new products?

The metals, plastics and cardboard packaging used in Dell products contain varying levels of recycled content, by application and product type:

• All new OptiPlex 960 systems are built using at least 10% post-consumer recycled plastic.
• Dell has launched multiple displays (E207WFP, E1909W, E1909WDD, E2209W, E2009W, G2210 and G2410) that contain 25% post-consumer recycled plastic. Our EPEAT® Gold displays contain this level of post-consumer recycled content.
• In 2008, Dell shipped more than 1.1 million pounds of post-consumer recycled plastics.
• All Dell EPEAT Gold-registered products contain at least 25% post-consumer recycled content in corrugate packaging