Company Updates

Dell ‘s FY2011 Corporate Responsibility Report: It’s Good Business To Do Good

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Today I take great pride on behalf of our team and our company as we issue Dell’s 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report.

Cover of Dell 2011 Legacy of Good Report

Many people have worked tirelessly to compile data and update our stakeholders on how, through technology and commitment, Dell is helping build more sustainable communities and helpingprotect the planet.  Whether it’s through our green efforts or giving programs, our company gives back in many ways responsibly and with integrity.

Dell was named Newsweek’s 2010 Greenest Company in America . We take a holistic view of how we can deliver better products and services by looking at sustainability throughout the lifecycle. From designing, building and shipping to using and recycling computer equipment, the company’s goal is to deliver the highest quality and most energy-efficient products with the least impact on the environment.

We have learned a great deal over the years in efficiently managing our own operations, buying renewable energy where practical, implementing practices that save energy and other resources. That mindset helps us focus on developing innovative energy efficient products and solutions for customers, shipping alternatives with sustainable packaging materials, and world class recycling options that make it easy for our customers to be green. We’d like to highlight some of our achievements in sustainability:

  • Data center efficiency improvements: within a five-year time frame Dell server performance per watt improved 31X;
  • Laptops and desktops consume 25 percent less energy than in 2008;
  • Customers have saved nearly $6 billion through Energy Smart since 2005, avoiding more than 55 million tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;
  • Reduced the size of laptop and desktop boxes by 11 percent;
  • Increased bamboo packaging for laptops and smartphones;
  • Began a pilot to ship Dell PowerEdge servers in mushroom packaging; mushroom packaging is dense and tough enough to protect our servers and desktops and is also compostable;
  • Extended free global recycling to 78 countries and facilitated equipment drop off at more than 3,700 Goodwill and Staples locations in the U.S. and Canada;
  • Recycled more than 150 million pounds of end-of-life computer equipment. Dell is on pace to recycle 1 billion pounds by 2014.

In addition to our sustainability efforts, our giving programs had a great year. Those efforts help close the technology gap, support youth education, entrepreneurship and digital inclusion for underserved communities around the world. Dell targets 1 percent of pre-tax profits toward programs that benefit education, health and children. The company last year made progress in its global YouthConnect program and stimulated social entrepreneurship through the Dell Social Innovation Competition. Here are some of our giving highlights:

  • YouthConnect has positively affected 2 million children globally with expansion to nine countries;
  • Expanded the Dell Social Innovation competition to promote social change in growing communities and committed $5 million over five years to the University of Texas at Austin to grow the program;
  • Dell and team members made multi-million dollar contributions for global disaster relief.

We also made some great gains in the area of Diversity. It is critical for companies like Dell to have a diverse workforce and embrace the similarities and differences of its team. Also, in order for Dell to effectively serve a global community, we proudly support having a diverse supplier network. Here are some of the accomplishments we saw in diversity in 2010:

  • $3 billion investment with diverse businesses;
  • Dell named one of the “Top Corporations for Multicultural Business Opportunities by DiverseBusiness.com
  • DiversityInc.’s Top 50 Companies list;
  • Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies list;
  • Perfect score on Corporate Equality Index of the Human Rights Campaign for seventh time in a row.

We continued our efforts to affect supplier work practices and require them to use the Electronics Industry Citizenship code of conduct as a basis for workplace operations and safety. Last year Dell doubled the number of supplier audits to 119.

You can either download the PDF of Dell’s 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report or you can also view it via Slideshare. We hope you have an opportunity to read our report and we look forward to continuing the conversation. While we have made much progress, we have much more work to do to help people achieve their full potential and help us protect the planet.

About the Author: Trisa Thompson

Trisa Thompson is the Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Dell, with responsibility for Dell's global giving and sustainability. Previously at Dell, Trisa served as Vice President, Legal, for the Global Operations, Marketing and Product Groups, and was a member of the Legal Team for 12 years. She was the founding co-chair of the Women's Networking Group, W.I.S.E., at Dell, and also serves on the PRIDE Executive Board. She is also a member of the Global Giving and Sustainability Councils. Trisa joined Dell in June 1998 from the Washington, D.C. office of Seyfarth, Shaw. Trisa was a partner with Seyfarth in its Government Procurement Law practice. She specialized in federal, state, and local procurement law and litigation. She joined Seyfarth directly out of law school in 1986.
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