By Chris Nicholls
SYDNEY: Greenpeace has released its sixth Guide to Greener Electronics report, which placed Sony Ericsson and Samsung at the top of a class of 18 manufacturers, while Nintendo and Philips came last.
The annual report, which surveys the 18 game console, mobile phone and TV and PC manufacturers on their global policies and practices, praised Sony Ericsson for removing all PVCs from their mobile phones as of last year and setting a target of January 1 next year for removal of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and other environmentally harmful chemicals. The company scored 7.7 out of ten.
Samsung went from eighth last year to second this year, scoring the same 7.7 out of ten as Sony Ericsson after removing PVC plastic from their LCD TVs and removing most BFRs from their mobile phone circuit boards.
However, the report came down hard on Nintendo for their lack of information on recycling programs and their PVC and Brominated Flame Retardant (BFR) use. The company scored zero out of a possible ten as a result.
Greenpeace said the score meant Nintendo had “infinite room for future improvement”.
Philips also scored badly, with a two out of ten score. Greenpeace marked it down for the company’s lack of a set timeline for BFRs removal and not committing to remove all PVC products from their manufacturing process. A lack of information on recycling programs held it down.
However, Philips Australia said in a statement they had worked to organise recycling programs and set a tentative 2012 date for removal of all PVC and BFRs from their products. The company claimed to have not used PVC in packaging since the mid-nineties.