Asian Companies Reclaim Top Place of Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics

In the latest edition of the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics, Nokia’s has missed on the first spot and is in third place as a result of poor takeback practices in India and Russia, paving the way for Samsung and Toshiba to share the top spot with score of 7.7 out of 10. Nintendo, with a score of 0.3 out of 10, stayed in last place.

Until now the Guide has ranked companies’ policies and practices on toxic chemicals and electronic-waste (e-waste), future editions will see the criteria expanded to include energy consumption, as well as, tightened criteria on toxic chemicals and e-waste.

Since the Guide was first launched in August 2006, most of the brands have risen to the challenges on toxic chemicals and e-waste set by Greenpeace. It is now time to take the next step, the organization said.

According to the organization, the electronic industry must address the environmental impact of its operations and products on the climate as well as toxic chemicals and e-waste. Greenpeace will rank brands against new energy criteria to encourage the industry to reduce its carbon footprint.

“Most electronics brands are rising to the toxic chemical and e-waste challenge issued by the Greenpeace guide. It is now time to raise the bar and challenge the industry to take a holistic approach to its’ practices and operations, companies have to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products - from production, through manufacture and to the very end of their products’ lives.” said Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner.

According to Greenpeace, Samsung’s consistency in their practises and policies kept the company score stable, while Toshiba climbed from the sixth spot by improving its score on Individual Producer Responsibility, whereby each company takes care of the electronic waste from its own-branded discarded products. Philips, Panasonic and Sharp continue to ignore their responsibility for e-waste arising from their products.

Improvement in Motorola’s takeback and recycling operations in the Philippines, Thailand and India, moved the company up from 14th to 12th position. Nokia failed to improve recycling services in India and Russia, so the penalty point remains in place, keeping Nokia off the top spot.

Nintendo managed a paltry score of 0.3 based on its chemicals management policy but scored zero for all other criteria.

“The challenge is clear, to be truly green, the IT industry needs to commit to designing products that are free of toxic chemicals, are energy efficient, durable and recyclable while taking full responsibility for them globally, including when they become waste”, concluded Iza Kruszewska.

www.greenpeace.org