Overview

As part of our commitment to provide environmentally sound solutions to customers, Cisco focuses on applying that principle to our protective packaging and product accompanying materials.

Our implementation of that principle is guided by three key factors:

• Reduce the amount of paper, plastic and metal material that ships with our products. Since 2008, Cisco has reduced the amount of paper documentation shipped with products by more than a billion sheets of paper.
• Replace materials with more environmentally friendly materials or with alternative components to enable more effective and easier recycling. Several high-volume product families have implemented packaging made of 100 percent recycled materials.
• Remove as much nonessential material as possible, such as magnets, rubber feet, and generic cables.

Cisco's efforts to reduce, replace, and remove have positively affected more than 66 percent of Cisco's products by volume and in fiscal year 2009 saved millions of pounds of material.

How You Can Help

• Recycle what you do not use. Please check with your local resources to find what can and cannot be recycled in your area.
• Take advantage of the Cisco green accessory kits.
• Use the Cisco Take Back and Recycle Program, which enables businesses to properly recycle end-of-life equipment.

Reduce

Paper Shipped with Cisco's Products

From 2008 through the beginning of 2010 Cisco has removed almost enough paper from our product shipments to reach the International Space Station. Paper was removed by moving to a smaller document size, referring to online content, or when necessary moving to CD/DVD.

Simply put, paper manufacturing requires water, energy, and numerous chemicals and expels carbon dioxide (CO2) into Earth's atmosphere. The fresh water saved from not producing the paper would fill 312 Olympic size swimming pools, the electricity not expended would light 5,079 homes for one year, and the CO2 not produced is the same as removing 4,960 cars from the road for one year. Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator.

The standard paper remaining in our product shipments is chlorine free with a minimum of 10 percent postconsumer waste. Starting in 2008 Cisco instituted a provision requiring all new paper vendors to be active members of the Forrest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC membership requires complete chain of custody and reforestation for any materials, so the environmental impact of virgin paper is zero.

Replace

Packaging Materials for Cisco Products

Focusing on packaging has led to use of sustainable materials and recycling. During new product introductions, Cisco uses the greenest, most globally available materials in the smallest quantities possible. Cisco regularly reevaluates existing packaging solutions to ensure that the best practices are carried into our existing product lines.

Best practices include replacing nonrecyclable packing materials such as static shielding bags with recyclable materials and smaller, thinner bags. The thickness of plastic bags containing hardware installation components is being reduced by 50 percent. When possible, adhesive stickers are replaced by printing directly on the plastic material.

Ninety-five percent of Cisco packaging is currently composed of one material or is easily separable for recycling. Though the opportunity to recycle varies by geographic regions, if you have the opportunity to recycle in your region, over 99 percent by weight of Cisco's packaging can be recycled.

Remove

Nonessential Hardware Components

Cisco's standard product accessory kits contain product documentation and hardware installation components. In 2009, Cisco introduced a green accessory kit in its Cisco 2800 Series Integrated Services Routers.

Where available, a green accessory kit is available for our customers as an option during product ordering. It contains only essential installation hardware components and product documentation. It does not contain readily available items such as electrostatic discharge (ESD) wrist straps and Ethernet cables or nonessential items such as optional blank covers and rubber feet.