January 7-10 blog from Greenpeace's 
Today Greenpeace released the latest Guide to Greener Electronics at a time when many companies are talking green. Apple, Sony Ericsson and Nokia are free of the worst hazardous substances but Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, and LG Electronics have dropped in the ranking. With many consumers now choosing green products, Greenpeace verifies the claims of companies and cuts through the greenwash. The Guide tells who is actually walking the walk.
“It’s time for a little less conversation and a lot more action on removing toxic chemicals,” said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace International Electronics Campaigner. “Apple is leading and HP is playing catch up, but the lack of action from other companies is ensuring that customers and the environment are still losing out.”
Several companies have failed to support bans on PVC, BFRs and chlorinated flame retardants (CFRs) during the revision of the EU’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electronics Directive (RoHS). “Sony Ericsson and Apple are already calling on EU institutions to support such a ban,” said Casey Harrell. “Other big players, such as HP and Dell — who have so far been silent — and Acer, need to ensure the ban is passed in the European Union Parliament.”
Samsung drops dramatically from second place to a tied seventh place for failing to eliminate BFRs in all its products by January 2010. With only its latest models of mobile phones free of toxic substances, it has set January 2011 as the deadline for eliminating them from new models of its notebooks and still has no definitive timeline for removing them from its TVs and household appliances. Nintendo, Microsoft and Lenovo languish at the bottom of the ranking.
“In 2010, we should see significant developments, with products free of PVC and BFRs in the PC and TV markets,” continued Harrell. “Any company failing to achieve this goal is taking a big gamble with its green reputation. More positively, it’s good to see non-ranked companies beyond the PC and TV sectors, like Cisco, committing to eliminate these harmful substances.”
Find us:
at Booth 4612, Sustainability Zone
Contact us:
ces2010@greenpeace.org
Tweets:
twitter: @greenpeace
Press Inquiries:
Daniel Kessler
510.761.5455
dkessler@greenpeace.org
— Tad Walker
