Dell to start shipping devices in mushroom packages
updated 05:25 pm EDT, Tue April 5, 2011
Dell to begin pilot mushroom package shipments
Computer maker Dell on Tuesday announced it will begin shipping some of its products in environmentally-friendly organic packaging made from mushrooms. It is said to use as much as 98 percent less energy to manufacture than styrofoam. Dell did test the mushroom packaging for product safety and it passed.
Pilot shipments using the new packaging are about to start, with the first product being the PowerEdge R710 server in a four-unit Multipack box. After shipments, the mushroom cushions inside the boxes can be added to the compost heap.
Mushroom cushioning is grown, with energy needed to do so coming from the carbohydrates and sugars in the agricultural waste product such as cotton hulls.
This is part of Dell's plans to eliminate about 20 million pounds of packaging material from its shipments by the end of 2012. It also wants to make 75 percent of packaging curbside-recyclable by 2012.
