16
October 2008 - Moscow, Russian Federation
— Philips Electronics has long been in the
red with a big fat zero on tackling e-waste
in our Guide to Greener Electronics. Meanwhile,
in Moscow’s Red Square, it is celebrating
110 years in Russia with its annual 'Sense
and Simplicity' event. We did a spot of
corporate gatecrashing to remind Philips
that, after all these years, doing the right
thing is still simple: take back and recycle.
Philips stands out as
the biggest obstacle to tackling the growing
problem of old electronics (e-waste) being
dumped in developing countries. Not that
you'll find any reference to such details
in Philips’ marketing material. That's why
we paid a visit to highlight the real consequences
of Philips’ position. In fact, we discovered
that never mind simply not mentioning the
real truth, Philips’ public material was
overflowing with elaborate wording gushing
over how responsible, healthy and sustainable
Philips is.
Circle of irresponsibility
We found a copy of Philips’ greenwashed
press packet in a trash bin. It claims Philips’
event is all about a healthy lifestyle and
maintaining a sustainable environment.It
talks about responsible consumption and
a shopping experience it calls the “Circle
of Life.” Philips claims the concepts and
products presented at the event are about
its commitment to “health and well-being
of people across the globe” and to “collective
well-being, and helping to create a sustainable
global society to protect our environment
for future generations.” If this is the
case, then why does Philips fail to take
back and recycling it products globally
in contrast to many competitors like Dell
and Nokia? Why does it refuse to accept
the real costs of their own e-waste? Instead,
Philips promotes and actively lobbies for
governments and public to subsidise recycling
its e-waste.
Unhealthy People, Unhealthy
Living, Unhealthy Planet
Philips should take responsibility for its
own products. If it is really interested
in a “sustainable global society”, it should
make sure all of its products are collected
and not leave the burden of cleaning up
toxic e-waste on unprotected workers. E-waste
can end up in countries without recycling
facilities and the recycling workers treating
the waste - often children - are exposed
to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and poisons
when the products are broken apart.
Unprotected workers
in the e-waste dumps of China, India, Pakistan
and Ghana who end up dismantling Philips
products are a world away from Philips’
'Sense and Sensibility' marketing, but that
doesn't change the fact that Philips is
the company whose position is blocking real
solutions to the problem. Watch the snap
shot of personal stories of e-waste workers
in Pakistan.
The words healthy and
sustainable certainly don't spring to mind
do they?
Other electronics producers,
including Sony, Toshiba, Dell and Lenovo,
accept responsibility for their own products,
supporting ‘Individual Producer Responsibility’,
and setting up free voluntary take-back
systems for their products. Philips is lobbying
against the implementation of individual
producer responsibility, under existing
legislation and its adoption in future legislation.
We are calling on Philips
to accept responsibility for its own e-waste
and to take back and recycle its products
in every country where they are sold. It
should pay for the recycling of its own
products. When producers pay the real recycling
costs, they have an incentive to stop using
toxic materials in the design of their products
and make them more durable and recyclable
in order to lower the recycling costs.
+ More
Activists urge Italy
to quit coal
16 October 2008 - International
— Activists from our ship the Arctic Sunrise
have been putting coal in the hot seat from
both land and sea in Italy. Five of them
scaled a 150 metre crane at the new coal-fired
power plant Civitavecchia, near Rome to
drop a banner highlighting the fact that
the Italian government opposes the Kyoto
Protocol. Meanwhile another five activists
painted, “No Carbon” and “Quit Coal” in
giant letters on the power plant’s dock
from an inflatable boat.
They called on the Italian
government to stop undermining Europe’s
efforts to reduce carbon emissions and declare
an immediate moratorium on all new coal-fired
power plants.
The Civitavecchia power
plant will increase Italy’s CO2 emissions
at a time when they should be reducing them.
Plants like this will derail the Italian
effort to meet the Kyoto target.
The good news!
The Italian government
was attempting to block important climate
change agreements being discussed by the
EU, but the good news is that they have
failed! At the end of two days of heated
talks in Brussels, EU leaders confirmed
their commitment to finalise the climate
and energy package before international
climate negotiations take place in December.
Upon hearing this news,
the activists came down from the crane and
were taken by the police but so far they
have not been arrested.
Europe must quit coal
Coal is the most polluting of all fossil
fuels. A third of all CO2 emissions come
from coal and, if we don't stop using it,
these will increase to 60 percent by 2030.
Coal is the single greatest threat facing
our climate and Europe needs to end its
outdated dependency on it.
The Rainbow Warrior
and Arctic Sunrise, are currently spreading
the 'Quit Coal' message across the Mediterranean
and Europe. The expedition, from Israel
to Poland, is happening in the run-up to
crucial UN climate negotiations in Poznan,
Poland, this December, where quitting coal
will be essential to a meaningful deal to
save the climate.
We need a [r]evolution!
Our Energy [R]evolution
scenario shows how renewable energy, combined
with greater energy efficiency, can cut
global CO2 emissions by 50 percent, and
deliver half the world's energy needs by
2050. Efforts made to cut emissions and
reduce Europe's dependency on fossil fuel
imports will help Europe bounce back from
the financial crisis - creating jobs and
a greener economy.
