CSR partner program between Dell and Goodwill reaping rewards

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) business partnerships are growing in popularity and they do seem to unlock some really encouraging results due to alliances between corporations and the nonprofit sector. In many cases these creative partnerships allow large companies to grow social responsibility schemes as a raw result by combining their own high-profile whilst working with nonprofit organizations who often have an existing infrastructure which helps to facilitate more far-reaching initiatives. One of the best examples of those began back in 2007 when Dell Computers and Goodwill Industries launched a partnership program called ‘Dell Reconnect’ which promoted the responsible recycling by consumers of computers that were no longer needed for free. It’s another example that makes perfect sense as Dell are in the business of selling new computers that very often are replacing old electronics that are no longer wanted by consumers. Rather than a broken computer sitting in a landfill, somebody’s garage or storage space the scheme promotes a greater likelihood of used electronics being recycled in a safe and efficient manner which is also environmentally friendly.

When the program was launched three main targets were considered; the diversion of millions of pounds of used electronics from ending up in landfills, heightened consumer awareness about the importance of environmentally conscious recycling of electronics and also via Goodwill Industries new job opportunities would be created internally. As I’ve written before it’s a perfect example of a manufacturer really targeting an area that is most appropriate for the products they create and in so many instances the products they are replacing as a result. The benefit of the partnership with Goodwill Industries allowed Dell to advise consumers that participating Goodwill stores would be the ideal place to drop off electronics that were no longer needed as a result of the partnership.

Almost 4 years on the program has gone from strength to strength, initially started in just a few states in the northeast of the US the program has expanded rapidly every single year. Dell have just reported last week that the fiscal year 2011 was the most successful yet with over 150 million lbs / 68 million kg of electronics being recycled globally. The project according to Dell was really able to expand due to the partnership with Goodwill Industries which in turn provided an added layer of public assurance when it came to participating in the project, the most recent results exceeded expectations and demonstrated a 16% increase over the previous year. In North America alone more than 95 million lbs of computers, printers, scanners, monitors and other related items were recycled over the fiscal year. Rolling up into Dell’s overall CSR program the company had announced a global target of recycling one billion pounds of electronics waste by the year 2014 against which with the latest results the company announced they are more than 65 percent of the way to reaching that target. I feel that a logical expansion of these processes would see more companies that manufacture a product become active participants in the environmentally appropriate recycling of replaced items where applicable. It is a pattern that is being followed elsewhere but there is still great room for this to be examined more fully by most industries.

You can learn more about the Dell/Goodwill Industries Reconnect partnership program via this link.

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