No pain.. No gain.. is it??..

The purpose of this study is to research the claim that Dell deals with E-waste properly. In order to examine the claim above, statistical surveys, experts` opinions and case studies from a range of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources are used. Those activities have been done by library research and search engine like Google.

E-waste can be defined as electric or electronic devices or parts that have been discarded due to unnecessary possession of their electronic devices by people’s upgrades (Greenpeace 2003).

E-waste is regarded as dangerous area because discarded electronics usually contain the toxic substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, beryllium and brominated flame retardants. Therefore, it can possibly cause serious health and pollution problems. Also, E-waste gets incinerated which releases heavy metals, including lead and mercury, into the environment which ultimately end up in the food chain (Kets 2010).

In addition, E-waste is getting pervasive faster than ever. According to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, there were 47 million discarded computers in America in 2005, up from 20 million in 1998 (Macdonald 2008). Due to this, current available companies’ way of dealing with E-waste has been an issue because it costs a lot to collect the discarded electronics of their products and it costs more and more to recycle them (GoodElectronics 2009). However, there are probably some companies which have a practical and effective way to take care of E-waste. Pinto (2008) mentioned that ‘Producers must be responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products’ and he also points out that Dell is one of producers who are quite responsible for their product in terms of E-waste. Thus I would like to have examined how Dell goes with E-waste in this blog.

Recently, Pc maker Dell formally banned the export of broken pc equipments such as computers, monitors and parts to developing countries even though there are a lot of complaints about it (MINTZ 2009), (Dell bans E-waste Export to Developing Countries 2009). This Dell`s policy seems quite remarkable because not so many companies are dealing with E-waste properly due to financial problem.  In addition even though some individuals associations try to recycle those discarded electronics, recycler, such as firms or community who has responsibility to take care of them, try to export them to overseas, or perhaps illegally ship the e-waste overseas to countries like China for cheap processing (Claerr 2010).

According to O’Rourke (2004, p. 14), Dell has implemented their own free recycling program, and has also collected the old computers of customers who bought new Dell equipments. The recent research result by Dell demonstrates that how much e-waste is getting back in the world. Dell has recovered 61.3 million kilograms of materials, up from 58 million kg last year. In addition, more countries in the world such as China and Ghana have decided to take the take back program established by Dell (Greenercomputing 2009). In addition, Dell has implemented a new programme which is to remake or reproduce with discarded electronics collected. This programme is called Reconnect. This programme has not only caused many recycled electronics but also has resulted in an increase of jobs available. Furthermore, Dell has expanded their partnership to be more effective (Marchetti  2009). Moreover HP, as well-known as another PC maker, has also declared that they want to join the Dell`s policy on the way of dealing with E-waste (Dell 2009).

Not only HP, there are some other associations who want to be compatible with Dell’s Policy in terms of E-waste. An example in Australia could be an Information Services working with the Eco Centre and the Faculty of Environmental Sciences which has partnered with Dell computers Australia (Davis & Wolski 2009, p. 25).

Therefore, based on analysis and research about Dell above, it can be said that Dell has a practical and effective method to properly deal with E-waste.

 

Reference

Claerr J, 2010, ‘What are E-Waste Items?’, Bright Hub, accessed 17/03/2010, http://www.brighthub.com/environment/greencomputing/articles/61854.aspx#ixzz0j47GwCJ0
This is a secondary source and the author writes for Associated Content, How and other websites on topics such as yoga, vegetarianism, holiday crafts, travel and environmentalism. His study area is quite broad so that I used his work.

Davis G & Wolski M, 2009, ‘E-waste and the sustainable organisation: Griffith University`s approach to e-waste’, International Journal of sustainability, UOW, vol 10, iss 1, pp 21-32, available: Proquest Central, Uow.
This article is a tertiary source and the authors are in centre for Environmental system research, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. They are quite expert on Environmental issue and this article is fully peer-reviewed. This source is dealing with an association which is relevant to the topic.

Dell, 2009, HP Joins Dell in Banning E-Waste Export, accessed, (http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2010/02/16/hp-joins-dell-in-banning-e-waste-export.aspx).
This is a primary source and Dell has written what they have achieved in their homepage. This source can be subjective but I really wanted to know what Dell have done and how it has impacted on other areas.

‘Dell bans E-waste export to developing countries’, 2009, Business and the Environment, UOW, vol 20, iss 7, p 10.2 available: Proquest Central, Uow.
This is a tertiary source which is reviewed about the policy of Dell. I wanted to use the evidence of Dell`s policy based on tertiary source.

GoodElectronics, 2009, hazardous e-waste needs regulation, accessed 19/03/2010, http://goodelectronics.org/news-en/indonesia-hazardous-e-waste-needs-regulation
This is a primary source written in good electronics which is an environmental association. The GoodElectronics network consists of about 150 organisations and individuals worldwide, including trade unions, labour rights organisations, human rights organisations, environmental organisations, universities, academics, and researchers. This source is quite relevant to not only E-waste but also the matter of society.

Greenpeace, 2003, What is E-Waste?, accessed 19/03/2010 http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/toxics/hi-tech-highly-toxic/e-waste.
This is a primary source and this article is written by Greenpeace environmental association. Their values are reflected in their environmental campaign work: They use non-violent confrontation to raise the level and quality of public debate.

 Greenercomputing, 2009, Dell Cuts Emissions, Boosts E-Waste Takeback, Green Power Use, accessed 18/03/2010, (http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/08/25/dell-cuts-emissions-boosts-e-waste-takeback-green-power-use)
This is a primary source and written in a news. The author is the leading source for news, opinion, best practices, and other resources on the greening of mainstream business. This source has interpreted E-waste based on the Economic view

 Kets M V, 2010, ‘E-waste getting out of control’, Web blog, The Ecology Spirit, accessed 17/03/2010, http://theecospirit.blogspot.com/2010/01/e-waste-getting-out-of-control.html.
This is written in a blog which is a secondary source and the author writes articles for Veolia Environmental Services, Australia’s environmental services leader in all facets of resource recovery and waste management services.

Macdonald G J, 2008, ‘Don’t recycle ‘e-waste’ with haste, activists warn’, USA Today, accessed 18/03/2010, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/environment/2008-07-06-ewaste-recycling_N.htm)
This is a secondary source and the author is quoting someone’s idea. This source is written in customers` point of view.

Marchetti N, 2009, ‘Dell, Goodwill Expand E-Waste Recycling Partnership’, Earth Techling, accessed 21/03/2010, http://www.earthtechling.com/2009/12/dell-goodwill-expand-e-waste-recycling-partnership/.
This is a secondary source and this article is written by an expert called Nino Marchetti who is a personal and consumer technology journalist with a passion for the environment.

MINTZ J, 2009, ‘Dell Bans e-Waste Export to Developing Countries’, U.S.NEWS, accessed 20/03/2010, (http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/05/12/dell-bans-e-waste-export-to-developing-countries.html).
This is a primary source and the author is informing the new information to the people via news.

O’Rourke M, 2004, ‘Killer computers: the growing problem of e-waste’, Risk Management, vol 50, iss 10, pp 12-18, available: Expanded Academic  ASAP, UOW
This is a tertiary source from Uow database called Expanded Academic ASAP. Also, the author is the Risk management`s managing editor. That is why this source is quite reliable.

Pinto V, 2008, ‘E-waste hazard: The impending challenge’, Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol 12, iss 2, pp 1-65, available: Expanded Academic  ASAP, Uow.
This is a tertiary source which has a lot of peer-reviewed and the author Violet Pinto is in department of Community Medicine, Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College and Hospital. Due to this source, E-waste is a concern on Medical area as well.