• Situation: E-Waste is a growing problem. Over 50 million pounds of it are created every year. But Dell has committed to making more than half of its new products with recycled material by 2030. And they’re even offering free shipping labels to get people to send in their unwanted e-waste. The problem is that only 17% of people are actually recycling their e-waste.

• Brief: Our brief was to get people to download the free e-waste shipping label by convincing them that their old e-waste can be effectively turned into new and better things.

• Objectives: Increase downloads of the FREE shipping label from Dell so more people can responsibly recycle their old technology.

We had to convince people that old technology can have a new life — and let them know that Dell was making it easier to recycle their e-waste by providing them with free shipping labels to send theirs in. So we started by creating a radio ad made entirely from recycled radio ads, which directed people to Dell’s website where they could download the free shipping label. Then we built a 20-foot-by-30-foot QR code made from old e-waste. And when you scanned it with your phone, it allowed you to download the free shipping label immediately.

Every year, 53.6 million tons of electronics become e-waste. That’s 16 pounds for every person on the planet. It’s the fastest growing domestic waste stream, and only 17.4% is being recycled globally.

Dell Technologies is committed to protecting the environment and accelerating the circular economy. Dell provides convenient trade-in and recycling solutions that help reuse precious materials to make new Dell products. Anyone with old technology, regardless of brand and condition, can send in their devices to be responsibly recycled.

The problem is that people let their old devices collect dust sitting in a junk drawer or at the back of their closet. They don't think about how it could have a second life and potentially turn into new technology. We needed to make a statement to get people to act now and remove the barriers to e-waste recycling, leading up to Global Recycling Day on March 18.

To build our 20-foot-by-30-foot E-waste QR code, we collected over 1,000 pounds of e-waste, from all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Each piece had to be deliberately and painstakingly placed to ensure the code was scannable. It took nearly two weeks of constant trial and error to get it to work seamlessly. In addition, we made the entire installation reusable — so that it could be dismantled and rebuilt in other cities. Then we launched it during SXSW, the largest tech event in the country.

Our E-waste QR code installation ran in one market (Austin, Texas) for three days during SXSW. During that time, we received over 3,000 interactions and over 1,200 shipping labels were downloaded. And overall traffic to Dell.com/Recycle jumped 10%.

Going forward, Dell has pledged that by 2030, half their new products will be made with recycled materials. They will continue to offer free shipping labels to anyone who wants to send in their e-waste. And they plan to expand their sustainability efforts far into the future. Including reusing the OOH billboard in other cities across the country.