Dell and Goodwill Beef up Recycling Efforts

Dell and Goodwill have been working together on recycling computers for quite some time. In fact, it was in 2004 that Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, Dell, and the City of Austin introduced the Austin Computer Recycling Project (ACRP). At the time the pilot program was “the first comprehensive computer recovery, reuse and recycling opportunity with kerbside collection” for Austin residents. Today, the program is so successful that the Austin Goodwill store has been receiving computers from residents throughout the city as well as 15 surrounding counties.

Austin Goodwill’s Christine Banks reported that the Austin Goodwill has been receiving a staggering 250 tonnes of electronics each month from various Goodwill stores and state agencies throughout the Central Texas region. After the outdated computers are collected kerbside, they are repaired and updated before being put up for sale to the public at the Goodwill computer store. The items that cannot be repaired are dismantled and various components are recycled.

“Nothing from them goes to the landfill,” Ms. Banks said.

The service is a benefit for those who cannot take their computers to one of the 37 Goodwill stores in the area. It’s also a benefit to consumers because the repaired computers can be purchased at a reasonable price. The process also serves to employ workers.

The launch of the ACRP was also the model for the San Francisco Bay Area Computer Recycling Project, launched in 2005 by Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, Dell, and the City of San Francisco, California.