Bangalore, India – The Indian IT major Wipro shares top pedestal with Nokia scoring 7.5 while Sony Ericsson and Indian software major HCL have been ranked second and third respectively, in the Version 9 of Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics[1].
“The presence of two Indian companies in the top five greener electronic companies in the world shows that Indian companies are ready to take a leadership role and will compete with the best in class in cleaning their supply chain and greening their products,” said Abhishek Pratap, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace India.
Samsung, Toshiba and Dell picked up penalty points for backtracking on their self-proposed timelines to eliminate some of the worst toxic substances from their products.
The poor performance of these companies is in contrast to their competitors like Apple and HP, HCL and Wipro who are making real progress by offering their customers a range of greener electronics.
HCL also improved on its score in the guide which helped it climb to the third spot including all Indian and multinational companies. Both Wipro and HCL launched PVC and BFR free products earlier this year[2] while two other Indian companies, Zenith and PCS Technology could not improve on their score and remain at the bottom of the guide.
The latest guide was launched in India after the recent Greenpeace protest at Dell’s Headquarters in Texas, US.
Toshiba and Samsung were awarded new penalty points in the latest guide along with Dell and LG Electronics. Samsung was awarded two penalty points for backtracking on its commitment to eliminate BFRs and PVCs from its products. It earned additional penalty point for misleading customers and Greenpeace by not admitting that it would not meet its public commitment of meeting the timeline within the agreed upon timeline.
Dell continues to receive penalty points by failing to launch any new products free from PVC & BFR. It has also failed to provide a roadmap to phase out these chemicals from its new products[3].
“These industry giants cannot claim to be green until they live up to their commitments to eliminate substances from their products that are harmful to the environment and public health,” said Abhishek Pratap. “Companies that are still using PVC and BFRs in their products need to follow the example set by Apple, HP, HCL and Wipro, who are phasing out these toxic chemicals,” he said.
On the upside, the guide also showcases environmental leadership within the electronics industry by an alliance of companies. They have gone a step beyond elimination of hazardous chemicals and using their considerable influence to advocate for the legislation which will eliminate future use of these toxic chemicals.
“It’s encouraging to see several companies understanding the urgent need for legislation that would enable the complete removal of these substances,” said Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner, Iza Kruszewska[4].
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Notes:
[1] Wipro launched its “Greenware” range of desktop which is completely free from PVC and BFR including Power-cord. This has been launched on 28th January 2010 – http://www.wiprogreentech.com/press_room.html
[2] HCL launched its premier range of Notebook product “ME” as free from PVC and BFR excluding Power-cord on eve of Earth Hour on 27th March 2010 – http://www.hclinfosystems.com/hclesafe_pvc.htm
[3] While Toshiba, Dell, Lenovo, LG Electronics and Samsung have broken their promises to eliminate Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) from their products, competitors Hewlett Packard and Apple continue to manufacture products free of these toxic substances, showing that it can be done and done at a competitive cost.
[4] Greenpeace wants consumer electronics companies to join companies such as Sony Ericsson, HP, and Acer who are actively lobbying for PVC and BFRs to be banned in the EU’s revised RoHS Directive – http://www.rohs.gov.uk/
