HP 2007 Annual Report Download - page 156

HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)
Note 17: Litigation and Contingencies (Continued)
Environmental
HP is party to, or otherwise involved in, proceedings brought by U.S. or state environmental agencies under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), known as “Superfund,” or state
laws similar to CERCLA. HP is also conducting environmental investigations or remediations at several current or former
operating sites pursuant to administrative orders or consent agreements with state environmental agencies. It is our policy to
apply strict standards for environmental clean-up to sites outside the United States, even where we are not required to do so
under applicable local laws and regulations.
The European Union (“EU”) adopted the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in January 2003. The
directive makes producers of electrical goods, including computers and printers, financially responsible for specified
collection, recycling, treatment and disposal of past and future covered products. The deadline for the individual member
states of the EU to enact legislation implementing the directive in their respective countries was August 13, 2004 (such
legislation, together with the directive, the “WEEE Legislation”). The EU member states were obliged to make producers
participating in the market financially responsible for implementing these responsibilities under the WEEE Legislation
beginning in August 2005. Implementation in certain of the member states has been delayed into 2007. Similar legislation has
been or may be enacted in other jurisdictions, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China and Japan. HP is
continuing to evaluate the impact of and take steps to comply with the WEEE Legislation and similar legislation in other
jurisdictions as individual countries issue their implementation legislation and guidance.
The liability for environmental remediation and other environmental costs is accrued when it is considered probable and
the costs can be reasonably estimated. We have accrued amounts in conjunction with the foregoing environmental issues that
we believe was adequate as of October 31, 2007. These accruals were not material to our operations or financial position and
we do not currently anticipate material capital expenditures for environmental control facilities.
Note 18: Segment Information
Description of Segments
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to individual consumers, small
and medium sized businesses (“SMBs”), and large enterprises including the public and education sectors. HP’ s offerings span
personal computing and other access devices; imaging and printing-related products and services; enterprise information
technology (“IT”) infrastructure, including enterprise storage and server technology; software that optimizes business
technology investments; and multi-vendor customer services, including technology support and maintenance, consulting and
integration and outsourcing services.
HP and its operations are organized into seven business segments: Enterprise Storage and Servers (“ESS”), HP Services
(“HPS”), HP Software, the Personal Systems Group (“PSG”), the Imaging and Printing Group (“IPG”), HP Financial
Services (“HPFS”), and Corporate Investments. HP’ s organizational structure is based on a number of factors that
management
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