Timeline of our history - Social

From its origins in a Palo Alto garage to its current position as one of the world's leading enterprise technology companies, HPE has grown and evolved significantly since its founding in 1939. See key milestones and moments from our history.

1940's - 1990's

                     

1940 - HP's first donation to charity

HP records its first charitable donation: $5 (U.S.) to local charities.

1948 - Dave joins school board

Dave joins the Palo Alto school board, demonstrating HP’s commitment to being a good corporate citizen.

1964 - Packard Foundation

The private David and Lucile Packard Foundation is created.

1968 - Hewlett Foundation

The private William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is incorporated.

1969 - Dave serves in DOD

Dave Packard is appointed U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense and serves from 1969 to 1972.

1979 - HP Company Foundation

The Hewlett-Packard Company Foundation is established.

1987 - Hardware recycling begins

HP begins its hardware recycling program.

1991 - HP recycles toner cartridges

HP initiates a recycling program for its HP LaserJet print cartridges.

1990's - 2010's

                    

1996 - Recycle program hits 10 million

HP recycles its 10 millionth LaserJet printer cartridge.

1997 - HP recycles inkjet cartridges

HP's recycling program expands to include HP inkjet cartridges.

2007 - One billion pounds recycled

HP achieves its goal of recycling one billion pounds of electronics. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the inception of HP recycling programs, which now operate in more than 40 countries, regions and territories.

2008 - HP reports greenhouse gas emissions

HP is the first IT company to release information on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its products manufacturing by publishing the emissions attributed to its first tier suppliers. The reporting is part of HP’s effort to promote supply chain responsibility.

2010 - Environmental milestones

HP achieves several milestones in its environmental efforts, including the production of more than 1 billion ink cartridges manufactured with recycled plastic and the planet's first PVC-free printer, the HP ENVY 100 e-All-in-One.

2012 - Free recycling

HP powers a program for free electronics recycling for all brands of office electronics at Staples stores nationwide—regardless of where the products were purchased.

2013 - Moonshot delivers

Based on 10 years of research from HP Labs, Moonshot is the world's first software-defined server. A fundamental disruption in server design, Moonshot servers run on extreme low-energy microprocessors originally designed for mobile phones. Moonshot uses up to 89% less energy, 80% less space and costs 77% less than traditional servers, helping companies keep up with the information demands of the time.

2014 - Recycling breakthrough

HP adds a fully closed loop process for recycling plastics derived from HP ink cartridges returned by customers. At the end of 2014 more than than 75% of HP ink cartridges shipped contain an average of 20% recycled plastic.

2015 - LaserJet Re-engineered

In the most significant laser printing re-engineering since the introduction of the first LaserJet in 1984, HP announces a new series of LaserJet printers built around the latest in toner formulation - new Original HP Toner cartridges with JetIntelligence. The new LaserJets use up to 53% less energy, take up to 40% less space and wake up, print and duplex in a fraction of the time.