By Bobby Elliott, E-Scrap News. May 21, 2015

Texas-based Dell has set its sights on using more recycled plastic, including plastics recovered from scrap electronics, in the manufacture of new equipment.

«We expect to see it grow over the coming years,» Maureen Martinez, Dell’s senior manager of environmental affairs, told E-Scrap News. «We’re trying to be a good steward of the environment and we understand that material usage is a big part of that.»

Dell has rolled out take-back programs around the world of late, and Martinez says the company has also recognized the potential for reusing a variety of materials in new products. In 2014, the company leveraged slightly more than 10 million pounds of recycled plastic, offering a variety of desktops and monitors with recycled plastics from recovered electronics. Dell wants to use 50 million pounds of recovered plastic by 2020.

«We’re actually well on our way to meeting and exceeding that 2020 goal,» Martinez said.

While initial concerns were raised regarding the performance and appearance of post-consumer resin being incorporated into new products, thus far Dell has been able to ramp up use. What’s more, Martinez says cost has been a relatively on par with using virgin plastics.

«For the most part it tends to be pretty cost-neutral,» Martinez said.

Not all electronic devices are ideal sources of recovered material, Dell has found. According to Martinez, lighter and thinner devices use «plastics with a much higher performance requirement and so it is more challenging in that area to drive the introduction of recycled content.»

In addition to increasing use of recycled plastic when possible, Martinez’s team is currently looking into the viability of using additional recycled materials, though she would not offer specifics.

«Hopefully in the coming months that’s something we’ll be able to talk about,» Martinez said.