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Assignment 2 Greening the Business Environment: HP Keeps Itself in the Recycling Loop Hewlett-Packard (HP), which offers a comprehensive product line of computer hardware, software, and services, was one of the first companies to recycle computer software and hardware products and components. The project became a matter of sustained companywide policy with the inception of HP Planet Partners in 1991, and today HP proudly proclaims that it's "committed to providing customers with inventive, high-quality products and services that are environmentally sound and to conducting our operations in an environmentally responsible manner." As one of the guiding principles ... deeply ingrained in our values," that commitment, says HP, has become a legitimate reflection of the firm's overall culture. How does Planet Partners work? First of all, HP takes back discarded hardware and cartridges from individual and business users. Cartridge recycling has always been free, and since 2009 HP has offered free recycling for any brand of computer equipment (up to five items per customer). HP has also expanded the Planet Partners print cartridge return and recycling program under which users can retum HP ink and LaserJet toner cartridges directly to HP or (using special postage-paid envelopes or boxes) to authorized retail and recycling locations such as Staples, the world's largest office products retailer Once they're returned, cartridges enter the HP Closed Loop System for Plastics Recycling-so-called because plastic from discarded cartridges goes right back into new cartridges. At facilities in Nashville and Germany, the plastic (about 80 percent of an ink-jet cartridge) is separated from electrical circuits, foam, metal, and residual ink and shipped to a plant run by the Lavergne Group, which makes plastic resins from recycled material, in Montreal, Canada. There, it's mixed with other materials (including a lot of plastic bottle waste), and when the process is complete the new compound is ready to be used in the manufacture of new cartridges. Since launching the closed loop system in 2005, HP has produced more than 500 million new cartridges, and at present the company's entire cartridge product line contains 60 percent recycled materials. It is no surprise that making cartridges is cheaper with recycled materials than with virgin materials, but its closed-loop recycling operations haven't yet had any positive effect on HP's bottom line. In fact, the Nashville facility operates as a cost center-it costs money to run it but it doesn't directly contribute to profits. At the same time, of course, saving the environment is not what HP does for a living, and few people, either outside or inside HP, would argue that its culture is inherently altruistic. HP has been investing money in its recycling infrastructure for decades, and that investment has paid off handsomely in lower production costs and a competitive advantage in the secondary market for computer equipment. HP has even turned asset management"the process of protecting the data left on discarded equipment-into a profitable customer service operation Question Discuss the advantages to a business organisation associated with the adoption of environmentally responsible business practices, such as the Rs (reuse, reduce and recycle) Your discussion must make reference to the above case study, as well as any other literature which must be properly cited and use relevant examples. Specifications Your answer should be typed Font type, size and space: Times New Roman, 12, 15 Number of pages: 4-6 Your work should include citations and references