Greentech Lead America: EMC Corporation, Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF) and InnoCentive, announced a new Eco-Challenge seeking
solutions for tracking shipments of used electronic components and subsystems.
In order to ensure that they are disposed of responsibly,
the Eco-Challenge seeks creative ideas for tracking the disposal of hardware
and improving sustainability in the electronics hardware industry with industry
standards and regulations.
“Addressing the environmental problems we face as a society,
at the scale and speed required, is going to take unprecedented levels of
innovation. Crowdsourcing is a promising new tool for companies to find
innovative solutions, faster and less expensively,” said Beth Trask, who leads
the Eco-Challenge Series for EDF.
EMC will share the winning idea to help accelerate the
adoption of environmentally sustainable and innovative e-waste practices. EMC
incorporates end-of-use considerations into the initial design process and
implements a program to dispose of its products responsibly when their useful
service life has ended.
“The proper handling of obsolete equipment is not only
significant for human health and a cleaner environment, but it also protects
data privacy and is simply an economically sound practice. With the unrelenting
growth of data driving IT demand, it is incumbent upon the entire industry to
continue to pursue ways to minimize the production and undesirable effects of
e-waste,” said David Goulden, executive vice president and chief financial officer
of EMC.
More companies are entering to recycling e-wastes, and it
can be difficult to ensure that they are handled properly.
The Challenge builds on EMC’s product take-back
initiatives and is part of the company’s sustainability program. The Challenge
is part of the Eco-Challenge Series created by EDF and InnoCentive.
EDF and InnoCentive jointly work with leading companies
to tap the power of open innovation and crowdsourcing to address real-world
environmental issues faster and more efficiently, while generating measurable
business value.
