IBM has become a finalist for the Most Innovative Solution in Packaging Waste Management, sponsored by Heidelberg.
IBM is a global company, and many of the initiatives that benefit the Australian environment are globally originated.
As a company that supplies information technology hardware, software and services, both the hardware itself and the outer protective packaging of IBM’s products holds great significance for the environment.
In terms of hardware, IBM has found a novel end use for scrap hardware.
For several years, IBM has worked with a product scrap recycler to find a suitable solution for recycling computer ABS/PC plastics and related plastic packaging, including polypropylene, polyethylene, polyurethane and polystyrene.
In 2006, a secondary market for the recycled composite material became commercially available: a third tier supplier and manufacturer uses the material to produce mine support beams and fence posts.
The company has also addressed the environmental impact of its packaging through an environmental stewardship program.
Over 30 tonnes of packaging material per year was saved through redesigning the company’s defiant planar packaging to hold eleven cards instead of eight.
Three extra cards were accommodated in the existing cardboard carton without modifying the carton externally.
Ridgeback card Elcano packaging saved 2.25kg of cardboard packaging material per unit, a saving of almost 61 tonnes of packaging material per year.
A design modification to IBM’s Ridgeback card Pacifico packaging saved 1.49kg of packaging material per unit.
It is estimated that over 140 tonnes of packaging material is saved per year as a result.
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