Dell Cutting Out 20 Million Pounds of Packaging Materials

It’s plastic for paper at Dell.

The Round Rock, Texas-based computer company said today that it will eliminate about 10 percent of the packaging materials that come with its PCs and laptops and will increase the amount that can be recycled. Over the next four years, this could eliminate 20 million pounds of corrugated cardboard and other annoying crud.

In the place of cardboard, Dell will employ air bags made from high-density polyethelene, and a good portion of that plastic will come from recycled milk jugs and laundry bottles.

Dell, of course, is a massive consumer of packaging materials. I once knew a stock analyst who used to have a source at the company that sold cardboard boxes to Dell. He’d estimate Dell’s quarterly shipments by the amount of cardboard the company bought. Thus, the switch to plastic is a shot in the arm for recyclers. An estimated 33 million milk jugs will get reincarnated into computer packaging next year, the company said.