ROUND ROCK, Texas, July 6, 2004 (ENS) - Dell is offering $220,000 in grant money to support computer recycling events in the fall of 2004.
These grants are in addition to the $120,000 in grants the company awarded in the spring. Company revenue for the past year totaled $43.5
billion.
The company will award a series of $10,000 grants to selected state, provincial and local governments, universities and other nonprofit
groups, nearly doubling the number of organizations that participated in the spring 2004 pilot program. The grants will be awarded through an
application and review process.
Through the spring program, which awarded $10,000 grants to 12 organizations, more than 800 tons of unwanted computer equipment were
collected in communities from Alaska to South Carolina.
"This grant program has demonstrated success in keeping reusable and recyclable equipment out of landfills while raising awareness of
responsible product end-of-life options," said Pat Nathan, Dell's sustainable business director. "By working with our grant recipients
and the National Recycling Coalition, and by expanding the program, Dell continues to spread the message that no computer should go to waste."
Cities, towns, and counties won the majority of Dell's spring grants. Winners included the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority of San
Ramon, California; the Washington, DC Department of Public Works, Office of Recycling; the Town of Bethlehem, New York; and the cities of
Atlanta, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Through Dell's partnership with the National Recycling Coalition, grant recipients will have access to a series of technical assistance forums
led by the Coalition. NRC members were given special consideration in the Dell grantmaking decision process and NRC served as a member of
Dell's Recycling Grant Review Board.
"The most effective solutions to building our nation's electronics recycling and reuse infrastructure are those that incorporate shared
responsibility and public-private partnerships - this grant program is an innovative step in that direction," said National Recycling Coalition
Executive Director Kate Krebs.
All proposals are reviewed by a grant review board of individuals from a variety of Dell business units, government organizations and experts
from environmental and recycling organizations. Decisions for the U.S. grant awards will be announced August 30 at the National Recycling
Coalition's Annual Congress and Expo in San Francisco.
For the first time both U.S. and Canadian communities are eligible for these grants. Details for the Canadian application and grant awards are
being developed and will be available within two months.
Dell's Recycling Grant Program is one element of the company's four part Total Product Life Cycle approach to sound environmental practices.
It is integral to phase four, Equipment End-of-Life Strategies. The other phases are Product Concept and Design, Manufacturing and
Operations, and Customer Ownership Experience.
Applications for U.S. grants are available at www.dell.com/recyclinggrant. The deadline for U.S. applications is 5 pm on July 30. New and revised proposals will be accepted; electronic submission is required.
Discarded consumer electronics are the fastest growing component of municipal garbage with millions of discarded computer terminals ending
in landfills each year. According to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, the typical personal computer contains about four pounds of
toxic materials.
Lead, contained in cathode ray tubes and circuit boards, can damage the central nervous system, kidneys and reproductive system.
Mercury, contained in flat panel displays and switches, can cause brain and kidney damage and birth defects.
Brominated fire retardants, contained in plastic housings for electronics, may mimic natural hormones, possibly disrupting a body's
metabolism.
Polyvinyl chloride, contained in soft plastics used in cables and wires, may produce dioxins if burned.
Local governments are struggling to deal with this new waste crisis, yet the electronics industry has yet to join any programs that require
them to take responsibility for their products. Very little of this electronics waste is recycled, due to the difficulty of separating
valuable metals from low value parts. For more about the NRC, visit: http://www.nrc-recycle.org
