D-Link claims 98 percent recyclability

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 26 August 2008 12:47

Science - Energy

While the IT industry makes various efforts to improve its green credentials through measures including reduced energy consumption and the reduction or even elimination of certain hazardous substances, the proper disposal of equipment when it reaches the end of its life can be a thorny point. D-Link thinks it has an answer.

Adding to its existing use of 100 percent recyclable packaging and compliance with EU RoHS directive, "We've gone a step further in Australia and New Zealand by making an effort to responsibly dispose of the physical product," said Maurice Famularo, marketing director for Australia and New Zealand.

"We have recently implemented a system with the world's largest electronics recycling organisation that allows us to recycle up to 98 percent of each product. We've gone to extraordinary lengths to have everything from Ethernet cables to chipsets to unit housing recycled. We are truly making the move to be more environmentally friendly in everything we do."

Recycling such a large proportion of a product pretty well guarantees that the job must be done properly - if you just burn cables to recover the metal, that's going to eat into the percentage - but D-Link says it also complies with the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive.

So who is doing the actual recycling? Find out on page two.