Greenpeace released its Guide to Greener Electronics on Wednesday, handing out bad grades to every one of the 18 companies it reviewed.
The Guide ranks top manufacturers of computers, mobile phones, game consoles and televisions according to their policies and on toxic chemicals and their “take-back” programmes.
The highest ranking company is Sony Ericsson, although they only scored 5.1 out of 10 points. Greenpeace did praise Sony Ericsson for having eliminated PVCs from all of its products, and for banning beryllium, antimony, and phthalates from new models launched since the beginning of this year. Greenpeace did criticize the company for its lack of take-back programmes that allow consumers to return products for recycling. The report states that Sony Ericsson has a recycling rate of only 1-3%.
Nokia would have topped Sony Ericsson with a score of 5.8, but Greenpeace knocked off a point for “corporate misbehavior”. Nokia has claimed to have a recycling program in India but according to Greenpeace, the programme is “not functioning on the ground”.
Coming in dead last was Nintendo, the legendary video game company. Nintendo scored a measly 0.8 points out of 10, due to its lack of knowledge on recycling and not having a timeline for phasing out harmful toxins such as PVCs or brominated flame retardants.
Greenpeace’s last report was published in March. Since then, the environmental group
Greenpeace has upped the ante by tightening its standards on e-waste and toxic chemical ratings, energy efficiency, and each company’s level of greenhouse gas emissions. The best performers for energy efficiency are Apple and Sony Ericsson; Phillips rated the best on greenhouse gases.
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