Dell Inc. is offering to recycle for free any of its products used by companies and organizations in China. The new program, announced last December, is the first time Dell has offered to recycle products sold in China.
Environmental awareness in China has become more pronounced in recent years. Decades of headlong economic growth have ravaged China’s environment, causing desertification, polluting the country’s lakes and rivers, and choking its skies with smoke and exhaust. The country has also emerged as one of the world’s largest destinations for electronic waste, which leave behind heavy metals and other contaminants when processed.
Dell’s offer to recycle its products sold in China is meant to bolster government efforts to improve the management and handling of electronic waste. Under the program, Dell is offering to pack and test old computer equipment to determine whether it can be resold to another user. If the equipment meets certain specifications, the equipment will be resold with the proceeds going to the original user, Dell said in a statement.
Old computer equipment that can not be resold, will be passed on to Dell’s recycling partners, who will oversee the disposal of the equipment, it said. Both services are offered to corporate users for free.
Chinese consumers will also be able to call on Dell to recycle their old PCs. Chinese users can submit a recycling request online for Dell displays, desktops, notebooks, servers, or printers. Users are requested to destroy any personal data on the computers and pack them so they can be delivered to a recycling company. Dell will send a courier to collect the products.
This service is also offered for free and does not require users to purchase replacement products from Dell.