HP paves the way for a greener future

If there were any doubts over its credentials as a leader in the global push to reduce environmental impact, HP Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) has convincingly dispelled these with the release of its recycling results for 2006.

Almost doubling last year’s total of 1700 tonnes, APJ recycled 3100 tonnes of used computer hardware in its 2006 financial year. It is the equivalent to 3100 small cars and bests regional competitor Dell by 1400 tonnes.

According to Jean-Claude Vanderstraeten, HP’s environmental director for APJ, the significant increase in tonnage can be attributed largely to more customers returning old computing equipment for recycling.

“I believe more customers – ­particularly those in the commercial sector – are becoming environmentally responsible, and are making environmentally sound choices with their everyday equipment,” he said. “HP will continue its industry-leading efforts to encourage this trend.”

To a great extent, such responsibility can be attributed to HP’s ongoing commitment to reducing its environmental footprint as well as its facilitation of programs that enable customers to participate in the effort.

HP began offering product take-back programs to global customers back in 1987. This was years ahead of other manufacturers and gave it the distinction of being the longest established PC vendor offering recycling services.

In 1992, HP launched its Planet Partners return and recycling program to recycle HP LaserJet printer cartridges. In 1997, HP opened its first hardware recycling facility in California, becoming the only major computer manufacturer to operate its own end-to-end recycling facility. It has since opened a second US facility.

Many of the customer take-back programs throughout APJ have been further refined with the launch of Asset-Recovery Services (ARS), which aligns the company’s trade-in, refurbishing and recycling operations. ARS enables customers to retire IT equipment that has reached the end of its life cycle, further lessening the impact on the environment.

While recycling is a key feature of HP’s overall commitment to environmental responsibility, it is only one part of HP’s holistic, ‘life-cycle’ approach to its products and services. HP aims to minimise the environmental impact of its product along their lifecycle.

The process starts from designing the products to minimise its environmental impact along the lifecycle. HP established its Design for Environment (DfE) program in 1992. The program is based on a simple set of priorities: energy efficiency, design for recyclability and materials innovation. DfE designers, assisted by product stewards, consider these objectives when designing new products. So when it comes to the final stage of an HP product’s life-cycle, recycling and/or upgrading of the product is an easier process.

To this end, HP engages in various activities around APJ, ensuring the facilitation of new and improved recycling techniques and programs.

In Australia for example, HP partners with Planet Ark in a program called Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program which offers commercial customers and consumers alike free and easy means for returning printer cartridges for recycling. On the hardware take-back front HP is partnering with the retail sector, government and environment groups. Company’s joint initiative with the Victorian Government known as Byteback launched in 2005, and event partnership with retail chain Domayne in NSW, in July 2006, both aim at diverting end-of-life computer equipment from landfills to environmentally responsible recycling.

In the past 16 months, Byteback has taken back approximately 240 tonnes of equipment, while the HP-Domayne event took back more than 44 tonnes of unwanted IT product in just two days. The largest contributor to Cartridges 4 Planet Ark, HP has helped the program recycle more than 3 million cartridges since its inception.

Elsewhere in the region the programs are equally active. HP recently partnered with Singpost in Singapore to enable customers to drop their HP printer cartridges into recycling bins at Singpost outlets.

In China, HP joined forces with local NGOs including Global Village of Beijing and Roots and Shoots Shanghai and Beijing – a program of the Jane Goodall Institute – to create ‘Cartridges for Dragon Recycling’ - an initiative that enables return of end-of-life print cartridges to environmentally sound recycling.

Such initiatives, and many more like them, have helped HP recycle 750 million pounds (340,000 tonnes) of computing and printing supplies to date, and brings its aim to recycle 1 billion pounds (455,000 tonnes) by the end of 2007, within sight.

This past October, former chief economist of the World Bank, Sir Nicholas Stern presented a sobering analysis of the economics of climate change. In the wake of the review, the environment has quickly shifted to the top of the global agenda. Sustainability, energy efficiency and a significant reduction of our environmental footprint are now key issues facing government and industry leaders - issues that are nothing new to HP, which has been a pioneer in the area of recycling and environmental accountability for a number of years.

With the many challenges that lie ahead for the environment, HP looks forward to continuing its significant involvement in the creation of a sustainable future.