Dell recently announced key corporate responsibility achievements with the release of its Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) Corporate Responsibility Report. The report provides the first progress update on the goals outlined last fall in the company’s 2020 Legacy of Good plan, a strategic roadmap for bringing sustainability and business objectives together, creating social and environmental benefits while enabling better customer outcomes.
The plan outlines an ambitious, long-term strategy for Dell’s solutions, processes and people, and strives to measure the ripple effect of how its technology is helping customers and others to benefit the world. It contains 21 goals Dell is committed to reaching by 2020. Key goals include making Dell’s entire product portfolio 80 percent more energy efficient, its packaging 100 percent waste-free, and applying its technology and expertise to directly help three million youth in underserved communities.
“As a private company, our entrepreneurial spirit and bold long-term goals are fueling new, innovative ways to solve problems and create positive change,” said Trisa Thompson, vice president of Corporate Responsibility at Dell. “I’m proud of the progress we’re making toward our 2020 Legacy of Good commitments and the resulting impact we’re having for our customers, team members, communities and the planet.”
·Dell reduced the energy intensity of its product portfolio by 23.2 percent over the last two years – and that of its server portfolio by approximately 50 percent. Customers who purchased products in FY14 can expect to spend $449 million less on electricity to power their products over their lifetime compared to those purchased in 2012. The company’s 2020 goal is to reduce the energy intensity of its portfolio by 80 percent.
·Dell’s Connected Workplace program helped the company avoid 6,700 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions last year, equivalent to eliminating nearly 16 million miles driven. The flexible work programs make it easier for team members to do their best work while saving the company an additional $12 million this year. Approximately 20,000 team members or about 20 percent of Dell’s workforce participate officially in the Connected Workplace program, bringing Dell almost half way to its goal of 50 percent global participation by 2020.An estimated additional 20 percent take advantage of the program tools and participate in an unofficial or occasional manner. The company’s flexible solutions earned Dell the No. 3 spot on Forbes’ Top 100 Companies Offering Flexible Jobs In 2014.
·Dell reduced GHG emissions from facilities and logistics by 8 percent – you would need to plant 1.9 million trees to absorb that much carbon, which is approximately 73 times the number of trees in NYC’s Central Park. Dell attributes the change to more efficient fulfillment processes (including more ocean-going freight and better packaging) and increased purchases of renewable electricity, constituting 35 percent of Dell’s overall electricity purchases and up from 23 percent last year. By 2020, Dell plans to reduce emissions from facilities and logistics by 50 percent.
· Dell is a leader in terms of supplier diversity, and in FY14 the company spent $4.1 billion with diverse suppliers, up from $3.44 billion in FY13. The company continues to be recognized as part of the Billion Dollar Roundtable for its spending with minority and woman-owned suppliers.
·Dell is helping today’s youth by putting its technology, expertise and giving dollars to work where it can do the most good. Last year, the company helped 590,000 children through its youth learning and children’s cancer care programs alone. Helping communities without reliable electricity access, in 2013, Dell and its partners installed its first two solar-powered Dell Learning Labs, outfitted with energy-efficient Dell Wyse workstations, to bring technology-based learning to youth in underserved areas of Africa. Together, the Dell Learning Labs directly serve 434 students and more than 50 teachers, as well as thousands of other students and residents who also have access to the technology.