News
Dell chooses bamboo packaging for laptops
Computer giant Dell has selected packaging made from bamboo as an alternative to the paper pulp, corrugated and expanded plastic packs to ship its laptops.
The China-sourced bamboo is being used for the cushions that cradle the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and 10v netbooks inside an outer box made from 25% post-consumer material.
Dell plans to expand the use of bamboo packaging early next year and is also working to certify the packaging as recyclable.
Oliver Campbell, Dell senior manager of packaging, admitted it was a novel use for bamboo but said its viability as a packaging material could not be ignored.
"We're introducing it with mobile products, as it's proven a strong, sustainable and cost-effective solution, and we're actively working to use it for products across our portfolio," he said.
Unisource Global Solutions sources the raw bamboo from a forest that follows Forest Stewardship Council principles and is located in Jiangxo province far away from known panda habitats.
Dell said bamboo was an ideal packaging material as it was strong, grew quickly and was environmentally friendly.
Dell's packaging goals announced last year involve a 10% reduction in packaging volume and 40% increase in the amount of recycled content by 2012.
Click here for today's headlines from across the packaging industry
