STAMFORD, Conn. (May 19, 2014) — Keep America Beautiful announced today that Dell Inc. is the recipient of the national nonprofit’s prestigious “Vision for America” Award. This national award recognizes a U.S. company’s significant accomplishments in leading sustainability initiatives in communities across the country.
Dell is being honored for its progressive actions and positive impact in the areas of environment, communities and people. Most recently, the company’s leadership team executed transparent and meaningful stakeholder engagement matched by a thorough examination of its entire value chain to create its 2020 Legacy of Good Plan, which outlines 21 ambitious social and sustainability goals to reach by 2020. The goals include making the company’s packaging 100 percent waste-free, using 50 million pounds of recycled-content plastic and other sustainable materials in its products, and volunteering 5 million cumulative hours of service.
Michael Dell, the company’s chairman and CEO, will accept this award at the “Vision for America” Award Luncheon on Dec. 4 in New York City.
”It’s an honor to be recognized for our long-standing commitment to our planet and the communities we call home—but we’re really just getting started,” said Michael Dell. “We are finding new and better ways to do business that protect and benefit the world and, even more important, enable our customers to do the same.”
“Dell continues to make bold moves to achieve social and environmental progress,” said Jennifer M. Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Following on 30 years of finding a better way, Dell responsibly serves communities with forward-thinking business initiatives, strategic giving programs and hands-on volunteerism.”
Keep America Beautiful cited several specific corporate efforts that led to this national recognition:
- Through sustainable packaging alternatives made from materials like bamboo, mushroom and wheat straw, more than 58 percent (by volume) of Dell’s packaging is recyclable or compostable, with a goal of 100 percent by 2020. Dell incorporated 7.8 million pounds of recycled-content plastics into flat-panel monitors and OptiPlex desktops – an increase of 6 percent over FY12.
- In FY13, Dell met its goal, set in 2008, of recycling more than 1 billion pounds of electronics, roughly the equivalent of 54 million average desktops.
- In FY14, Dell team members spent more than 739,000 hours volunteering, bringing them to a total of over 1.86 million hours since FY12 and more than 37 percent of the way to the goal of providing 5 million cumulative hours of service to the communities in which they live and work.
Keep America Beautiful salutes Dell for its leadership role as a corporate citizen through its ongoing commitment to creating communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.
About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With our national network of community-based affiliates, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visitkab.org, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.
About Dell
Dell Inc. listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Dell began integrating sustainability features into its products and processes nearly 30 years ago with designs that were upgradable, serviceable and recyclable because it was good for business, customers, and the environment. The company also was a founding member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Start program. Dell continues to play a leadership role today in global sustainability initiatives, earning honors including the2014 Design for Recycling Award from the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Environmental Leader Project of the Year, the Guardian Sustainable Business Shortlist, and Manufacturer of the Year at the UK Green IT Awards. For more information, visitwww.dell.com/corporateresponsibility.