Dell Lays Out Vision for Sustainable Gadgets With New Laptop

Dell is unveiling a new proof-of-concept laptop that offers a glimpse at how gadgets of the future could be designed with electronic waste minimization in mind—if and when the company begins to mass-produce the type of easily repairable and recyclable components the computer contains. The prototype laptop is a new iteration of Concept Luna, the modular device blueprint that Dell first introduced around this time last year. The new model takes the easily repairable and sustainable design embodied in that version a step further with a laptop that can be completely assembled and disassembled in minutes, its parts easily clicking into place without screws or adhesives. Each component is marked with a QR code that can be scanned to check its health and usage status, eliminating the need to throw out an entire otherwise working device when one part begins to wear out or malfunction. The ability to easily isolate each piece of the system would also make it easier to recycle, Dell's engineers said, creating a closed loop of reuse known in sustainability spaces as circular design. While Dell is still a long way from bringing Concept Luna to market, the project is part of a larger effort on the computer giant's part to hit a series of ambitious climate milestones structured to bring the company to net-zero emissions by 2050. Reducing e-waste is a big part of that goal; the World Economic Forum estimates that the world produced 63.3 million tons of electronic waste in 2021—more than the mass of the Great Wall of China. Only around 17.4% of that sum was likely recycled. "The e-waste problem in the world is only growing; it's one of the single most problematic environmental issues that face us today," said Page Motes, Dell's head of global sustainability. Right now, Dell's efforts towards tackling that problem are focused on making consumers more aware of how to properly dispose of their devices or parts earlier on in the purchase process. "What we're trying to do is educate our customers and offer more services and solutions to our customers to get that product back and have those conversations at the beginning of the cycle, not at the end of the cycle," Motes said. The company also has a long track record of publishing repair guides for its products online. But the latest iteration of Concept Luna would take that repairability to the next level. Dell has created a micro-factory consisting of robot arms that can assemble and dissemble the computer while assessing the wear and tear of each part and diagnosing problems. The system also includes a machine learning algorithm that can evaluate whether a replacement keyboard is needed. As for why this type of modular design isn't the industry standard today, Dell distinguished engineers and system architect Trevor Morrison said it is a matter of priority within each company's engineering departments. Some might focus more on the thinness of the product that requires a different type of adhesive or a low overhead cost for parts or another area of focus that precludes modularity. Dell is hoping its companywide mandate to prioritize sustainability can now make that a bigger factor in guiding product design. While Dell has no fixed roadmap for bringing Concept Luna to market, Motes said the next steps will likely entail soliciting feedback from prospective customers on the latest design. But whether or not Concept Luna ever actually makes it to market in the same form, Motes said the company plans to use it as a guiding vision for sustainable design. "Next, we're going to get a lot of conversations going like, 'What would this look like in a corporate IT department? What would this look like for Dell to use?' We want to get more feedback," Motes said. "But what is very, very clear is that whether or not it's one-for-one every single feature you see in this Luna or some version of it, I'm confident that we're going to see a cascading effect of these kinds of innovations in the future product."

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Dell Lays Out a Vision for Sustainable Gadgets With Latest Modular Laptop Concept

The computer giant's new Concept Luna prototype does away with screws and adhesives

Patrick Kulp

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Patrick Kulp