14 DAY TRIAL // Dell went private not that long ago, after a protracted and ultimately failed campaign by billionaire activist Carl Icahn to buy the company out from under the feet of its Founder, Michael Dell. The completion of the process has allowed Dell to make a stand on the "green" issue.
When Michael Dell announced his intention to turn Dell into a private company, he said that the ultimate goal was to make the company better at preparing for both the short and long terms without conflicting shareholder desires bloating the roadmap.
It turns out that going "green" was among the first things on the list, as the company has just announced a new type of packaging.
In other words, Dell is using a lot of recycled e-waste, as well as sustainable materials like bamboo, wheat straw and even mushrooms, to make the boxes for its various products.
Michael Dell even went so far as to eat small pieces of edible packaging made from mushrooms, as you can see in the video below (jump to minute 13 or so). They used soy sauce for flavor.
Now, a skeptic would probably say that that's not such a big deal. You can eat cardboard without any big problems, even though it doesn't qualify as edible.
Nevertheless, the mere fact that the company founder would do that in a public show drives the point home that Dell is serious about this. Even if the core of its green packaging tactic is ultimately covered by something else: AirCarbon.
"We have a long-standing commitment to conduct our business responsibly," said Mr. Dell. "Air Carbon packaging and closed-loop recycled plastics are terrific innovations and big steps forward as we work with our customers and partners toward our 2020 goals."
ArCarbon packaging consists of carbon-negative AirCarbon material from bio-tech start-up Newlight Technologies.
It's a sort of plastic made from air and greenhouse gases that would otherwise become part of the air. The process captures more carbon than it produces, slowly reducing the greenhouse effect by pulling carbon from the air.
Dell's products will begin to use AirCarbon boxes and other packaging this fall. Add to that the tens of millions of dollars saved by substituting oil-based packages for bamboo and wheat and you have a winning formula in the long term.
Closed-loop recycling is the last building block of this strategy. Developed in tandem with Wistron GreenTech, it will recycle the plastic of used electronics for use in new ones. The Dell OptiPlex 3030 All-in-One desktop will be the first product ever to employ UL-Environment certified closed-loop recycled plastic.
