How Dell Technologies is Driving Sustainable Impact for Business and Society

Originally Published: July 14, 2023

About the Author: Cassandra Garber has over 20 years of experience building and leading global, enterprise-wide sustainability, ESG, marketing and communications programs and teams across a variety of industries for $30B+ companies. Cassandra currently serves as Vice President for Corporate Sustainability and ESG, overseeing the teams and activities leading global sustainability, ESG strategy and operations, and Dell’s giving and social innovation programs. Cassandra and her teams are responsible for holistic advancement of the overall program, as well as formal leadership and execution of advancing sustainability and transforming lives.

Organizations are at an important juncture in creating positive business, environmental and societal outcomes.

Considering the broader impact — across business, people and the planet — of how we run our business isn’t new for Dell Technologies. For decades, we’ve been investing in innovation, partnerships and programs that apply our technology, scale and talented workforce to drive human progress – all with the aim to have measurable influence on some of the complex challenges important to our business, customers, the communities we serve and society at large. From tackling issues like climate change and accelerating the circular economy, to creating inclusive workplaces and addressing the digital divide, we’re increasing our rigor, our innovation, our action and ultimately, our impact.

FY23 Report Highlights

Our annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) report is how we hold ourselves accountable and stay on track to deliver on goals we will achieve by 2030 and beyond. Sustainability & ESG is a business imperative, and in our FY23 ESG Report launched today, we share where we are making headway and where we need to accelerate progress.

In FY23, we: 

• • Used 155.5 million kilograms (343.3 million pounds) of sustainable materials in our products and packaging.
  • Achieved 59% renewable electricity across Dell Technologies global facilities, in support of our goal to deliver 100% by 2040.
  • Brought more sustainable innovation to our business notebooks. For example, the Latitude 9440 features recycled, renewable and low-emissions materials including 75% recycled content in the low-emissions aluminum chassis, 90% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics in the battery housing, plus 50% recycled copper in the AC adapter cable.
  • Strengthened our plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions across scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2050 by increasing the level of ambition of our scope 3 goals. Our new scope 3 targets, which aim to reduce absolute emissions associated with the goods and services we purchase and the use of our products wherever our customers deploy them have been validated by the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi). Specifically, we have committed to reducing absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services by 45% and absolute scope 3 GHG emissions associated with the use of sold products by 30%.
  • Spent more than $3 billion with small and diverse businesses, showing our continued commitment to diverse supplier spend. For the 13th consecutive year, we were recognized by the Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR), which celebrates corporations that spend at least $1 billion annually with diverse-owned businesses.
  • Supported 123 nonprofits on their digital transformation journeys, keeping us on track for our goal to help 1000 nonprofits partners by 2030.
  • Helped deliver positive impact for 128 million people through health and education initiatives, such as Digital LifeCare, Solar Community Hubs, Girls Who Game and Student TechCrew. With this, cumulatively, we have positively impacted approximately 288 million people since FY20.
  • Increased the number of women in our global workforce with 34.8% of team members and 29.2% of people leaders identifying as women, in support of our 2030 goal of 50% and 40% respectively.
  • Were recognized by Forbes, which ranked Dell Technologies as #10 in their 2022 World’s Best Employers list for our focus on attracting, building, developing and retaining an inclusive and diverse workforce.
  • Were recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere® Institute for the 11th time.

Strengthening Our Focus and Mapping Our Route to 2030 and Beyond

A lot has changed since we initially set our 2030 goals in late 2019, and we have gained valuable insights throughout this journey. Despite ever-evolving regulations, measurement methodologies and external factors, we remain ambitious and are committed to our destination while making minor adjustments to our route.

To drive tangible and measurable results, we need to focus our goals on areas where we have the greatest potential for meaningful change. This focus drives greater impact. Recently, we conducted an analysis of our progress – refining our measurement methods for consistency, retiring goals that we have already achieved and strengthening our focus areas.

Consequently, we have condensed our number of ESG goals from 25 to nine, where we have the greatest responsibility and opportunity to effect change. Trust is at the root of all we do and we believe security, privacy and ethics are core to establishing and maintaining trusted relationships. That’s why we are introducing a dedicated goal under the broader category of “Upholding Trust.”

A Clear Path Forward 

Every organization is on a unique path towards sustainable success, and we are thankful for the collaboration with our team members, customers, industry partners and suppliers to set industry best practices.

We were excited to receive industry recognition like the recent Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Company of the Year award, and we are proud of our efforts to create a more sustainable and inclusive world. At the same time, we acknowledge the need for continuous improvement and transparent reporting of progress against our commitments. In the upcoming year, we will maintain agility, responsiveness and rigor in our efforts, and explore new partnerships and actions to accelerate both business and societal impact.

As we call out in our FY23 ESG Report: The time is now. To achieve significant progress in the future, we must invest in the right actions today. We are, and we applaud many others for doing the same. For more information and to review our full report, please visit dell.com/impact.