27 November 2007 - The latest
edition of our quarterly Guide to Greener
Electronics assesses for the first time TVs
and the rapidly growing games consoles market.
Nintendo completely fails to show any environmental
credentials and Microsoft and Philips do little
better.
The Greener Electronics Guide is our way
of getting the electronics industry to face
up to the problem of e-waste. We want manufacturers
to get rid of harmful chemicals in their products.
We want to see an end to the stories of unprotected
child labourers scavenging mountains of cast-off
gadgets created by society's gizmo-loving
ways.
The Guide ranks companies according to their
policies and practices on toxic chemicals
and takeback. Along with mobile phone and
personal computer companies, we've now added
the biggest makers of TVs and games consoles.
Old TVs are a large part of e-waste and the
games console market is one of the fastest
growing in consumer electronics.
Nintendo has the dubious honour of being
the first company to score 0/10 in the guide.
Microsoft did little better, scoring only
2.7. Philips is the lowest TV-maker scoring
only 2. The companies are new to the Guide
so have plenty of room for improvement.
Heading the ranking, Sony Ericsson has taken
over number one spot from Nokia while Samsung
and Sony have surged ahead to now occupy second
and third positions. Nokia and Motorola have
each had a penalty point deducted after we
found their claims of global takeback were
not being matched by actual practice.
Matching words to actions
We tested the implementation of product takeback
programmes in six countries where Motorola,
Nokia and Sony Ericsson claim, on their websites,
to operate product takeback programmes. Nokia
representatives in the Philippines, Thailand,
Argentina, Russia and India were not informed
about their companies' own programmes and
in many cases provided misleading information.
Motorola staff in the Philippines, Thailand
and India were unable to direct customers
to collection points in their respective countries.
Here is one example from our investigations
when we visited a Nokia centre recommended
by Nokia for recycling phones in Argentina
with a hidden camera:
As a result, Nokia falls from top position
to ninth and Motorola drops from ninth position
to fourteenth.
"Companies shouldn't be under any illusions
that we won't check up on their claims of
green greatness," commented Iza Kruszewska,
toxics campaigner at Greenpeace International.
Companies making the most progress with new
products without the worst toxic chemicals
are now ranking higher than companies who
have only committed to remove them in the
future. Toshiba has laptops free of toxic
chemicals like vinyl plastic (PVC) and has
reduced the use of brominated flame retardants
(BFRs). Apple's score improves slightly due
to new iMacs reducing the use of PVC and BFRs.
All new mobiles from Sony Ericsson and Nokia
have been free of PVC since the end of 2006.
Our guide focuses on toxic chemicals and
takeback policy because of the rapid growth
in quantities of toxic e-waste being dumped
in developing countries like China and India.
While Nintendo's Wii console appears to be
more energy efficient compared to the Microsoft
Xbox and Sony Playstation, energy use is not
yet covered in the ranking.
Many companies have made big strides to improve
their products and recycling schemes since
the introduction of the Guide. But no company
has so far succeeded in offering a entire
range of products free of the worst toxic
chemicals or a comprehensive, free, global
takeback scheme to ensure responsible recycling.
