HP leads the PC and printer markets in two key areas: security and sustainability. Security because of HP’s unique Wolfe Security unit which is like having an embedded focused security company, and sustainability because it has the most aggressive program currently in that sector. The service that gives HP the lead in sustainability is “HP Renew Solutions.” It’s an aggressive program that allows customers to return used equipment to HP so that it can be either properly disposed of or refurbished and resold with at least an additional 12-month limited warranty (which can be extended). This can extend the service life of the hardware significantly and substantially lower the amount of hardware that goes into landfills.
In particular, HP’s Hope Recycling Futures effort works to get this recycled hardware into areas where funding for new hardware is lacking for education. That service covers 20 countries, 67 projects, and has benefited nearly 16K kids to date, which has increased computer literacy globally and has a goal of benefiting 370K kids by 2030. That’s an impressive number.
It turns out 71% of companies surveyed by HP have advanced sustainability programs, 85% of companies screen their suppliers for sustainability programs, and 76% are more likely to purchase from companies with sustainability programs like HP’s. In short, these programs aren’t just good for a firm’s image, they also significantly contribute to the bottom line.
Let’s talk about HP’s unique approach to sustainability.
HP’s Unique Approach to Sustainability
One of the interesting things about HP’s program is that it isn’t just relegated to HP. A few years back, I toured one of the large facilities that was recycling ink cartridges and found there was a considerable amount of Dell hardware being recycled.
I was told that Dell approached HP to partner on recycling, and, instead of locking Dell out, HP agreed to collaborate with the understanding that recycling shouldn’t be tied to a single company as a competitive edge but should be done as broadly and completely as possible for the sake of the planet, regardless of competition.
I believe this is the right attitude and mirrors a similar policy at Mercedes which licenses safety technology to competitors for free because saving lives is to everyone’s benefit, not just the company that has come up with the solution.
Renew Solutions
One of the programs under Renew Solutions that I found particularly interesting was the Life Cycle Extension program. Here you sign an agreement when you buy a PC from HP to return it to them in three years for recycling. If you choose to keep the equipment, it will be returned to you with a similar status to a car under a certified used car program. It gets an extended warranty, and it is updated and repaired to factory specs, and then can be deployed as the company sees fit with similar support and coverage to a new PC.
This has several advantages. One is that it avoids the tariffs typically applied to new hardware arriving from overseas because it isn’t new hardware, and it is refurbished domestically. Even if it is refurbished out of the country, it is treated as a repair, not a new sale, which should avoid those tariffs as well.
This also reduces the risk of supply chain problems because the hardware is complete when it goes into refurbishment so the dependencies on hardware components, particularly the CPU, GPU and now NPU are eliminated because those things, at least for laptops, can’t be replaced.
Wrapping Up: The Future
HP currently leads in sustainability, but Dell’s Concept Luna has the potential to move past HP and everyone else if it ever chooses to implement it. This program fully modularizes a laptop and allows for a robotic kiosk remotely located to update, upgrade or refurbish a laptop simply by dropping it in a slot, selecting your options, and then letting the robot do the work which would be completed in around 10 minutes. But Dell hasn’t found a way to implement this program yet, and with the potential of significant layoffs in Dell’s future, it is unlikely to.
But Dell’s approach of fully modularizing hardware so that it can be updated and refurbished more effectively would be the next step in sustainability leadership. Right now, it is likely that HP will get there first.
Sustainability should be more important to all of us than it is. HP is leading the charge with its HP Renew Solutions effort, but it still has a ways to go to reach the full potential of this impressive effort.
