Dallas – Consumers wanting to ditch old printers, personal computers or other electronic gear made by Dell Inc. will soon be able to recycle them free of charge, chairman Michael Dell announced Wednesday.
“We don’t think the consumer should have to pay for the responsible retirement of used computer equipment,” Dell said.
The new recycling policy, already available in Europe, is slated to launch in the United States by September and the rest of the world by November.
Industrywide, companies have begun adopting more affordable recycling policies to prevent cadmium, mercury, lead and other hazardous materials contained in many electronics from ending up in landfills as so-called e-waste.
This month, Apple Computer Inc. expanded its computer recycling program for U.S. customers. Those who buy a new Mac through the Apple store online or any Apple retail store will receive free shipping and recycling of their old machines.
Dell’s main rival, Hewlett- Packard Co., meanwhile, said Tuesday that it was expanding its product-recycling program with a series of summer collection drives.
The drives, running between June and September in Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico and Oregon, will let consumers drop off a range of electronic devices for recycling free of charge, the company said.
Under Dell’s previous policy, available since 2004, consumers could get free recycling of any brand of computer or printer only if they bought a new Dell system.
Under the new system, consumers wishing to recycle their old Dell gear for free must go online, enter the product’s serial code at Dell’s website, pack the item and then schedule a pickup time.
