Dell Chief Sustainability Officer steps down

Dell Technologies’ Chief Sustainability Officer Cassandra Garber has announced her departure from the firm. 

Garber has held the CSO title for just 10 months, but led the tech company’s sustainability efforts as Vice President of Sustainability and ESG since 2021. Dell is yet to announce a replacement.

“Sometimes in life we all reach a fork in the road, a moment where a big decision must be made. Where your current path has so much goodness, but a new adventure appears and just feels right,” she said in a Linkedin post announcing her departure – adding that she would share details about her next professional step shortly.

Before joining Dell in 2021, Garber led sustainability at a variety of different firms, including healthcare company McKesson, machinery manufacturer 3M, as well as Coca-Cola and General Electrics.

Dell’s sustainability progress 

Under her leadership, Dell reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 40.6% (from a 2020 baseline) – putting it on track to meet its science-based 50% reduction target by 2030. This was largely achieved by switching to renewable energy for 61.5% of operational needs, with a goal of reaching 75% by 2030.

The company also cut absolute Scope 3 emissions associated with the use of sold products by 22.2% and is aiming to reach a 30% reduction by 2030.

“It is with sincere gratitude that I’d like to thank Dell and my incredible colleagues and friends there. We’ve done so much. In just under 4 years we’ve reinvented the entire ESG organisation, integrated it across the company, innovated in products and programmes and processes, streamlined and prioritised our focus, had a meaningful impact in so many ways, and we’ve celebrated the amazing humans who made all this happen,” Garber added. 

Circularity at Dell

The company’s sustainability strategy also includes a strong focus on circularity: By 2030, Dell aims for half of its product content to be made from recycled, renewable or reduced carbon emissions material, use 100% recycled or renewable material for packaging, and reuse of recycle one metric tonne of product for each metric tonne purchased by customers.

As of 2024, the company was close to achieving its sustainable packaging goals at 96.4%, while the other two circularity goals appeared more challenging, with 14.1% sustainable materials in products and just around 30 tonnes of products recycled or reused for every 100 tonnes purchased.