Simple clear advice in plain English

Manufacturers need to be greener with their products

Report launched at CES says companies are getting better at being green, but more needs to be done

  • Andrea-Marie Vassou
  • News
  • Web
  • 09/01/2009
Greenpeace
environment/greenpeace-pc-toxins-hazardous

Electronics companies are becoming greener but still have a long way to go, Greenpeace has said.

The environmental organisation found that fewer electronics products on the market contained harmful PVC plastic and hazardous chemicals than last year. LED displays, which save energy and avoid the use of mercury in backlights, were found to be far more common, and manufacturers were using larger quantities of recycled plastic in TVs and monitors.

Companies were also said to have established more comprehensive voluntary take-back and recycling programmes, and had adapted quickly to the new requirements of Energy Star, a government benchmark for energy efficiency.

In its Green Electronics: The Search Continues report, Casey Harrell, international toxics campaigner at Greenpeace, said: “We’re on the hunt for a truly green product that is free from toxic chemicals and excels in energy efficiency and durability. The race for the green winner is still on.”

The report which was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas found that although the “industry had taken encouraging strides towards increasing the green features on some gadgets over the past year, none stood out in all environmental categories".

Acer, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Sharp, Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba provided information on 50 of their most environmentally friendly new products.

This included mobile and smart phones, televisions, computer monitors, notebook and desktop computers, and games consoles.

Greenpeace assessed these against a list of environmental criteria, including toxic chemical phase out, energy efficiency, product lifespan and energy used in production.

The organisation also pointed out that even though computer manufacturers are generally good at providing in-use energy data and comparisons for their products, monitor and television producers had to make this a higher priority.

It also said that while some companies had sections on their website listing green products, these were still not prominent enough to promote green products as a major purchasing decision.

“Consumers are still having to choose between gadgets that are green in one way but grey in another,” said Harrell.

The companies that refused to take part in the survey were Apple, Asus, Microsoft, Nintendo, Palm and Philips.

Article tags

Reader Comments

   

Add your comment

All fields must be completed. Your email address will not be displayed or used to send marketing messages.

All messages will be checked by moderators before appearing on the site.

See our Privacy Policy for more information.

Related articles

Fujitsu-Siemens to label green PCs

Manufacturer introduces 'Green IT' rating scheme for environmentally friendly computers

Apple announces new notebooks

New Macbook and Macbook Pro notebooks are greener, but rumoured $800 notebook fails to appear

Las Vegas

CES 2012 - Day 1: Big TVs, big queues and Ultrabooks

As the first day of CES 2012 draws to a close, we try to make sense of all the noise.

Question & Answer

Q.Why can't my browser find the website address I typed...

> Read the answer

Q.All updates have been downloaded, so why won't Windows...

> Read the answer

Q.How do I stop Windows 7 search?

> Read the answer

Best deals on the web

img

Apple iMac 21.5" (MC309)

£929.00- Buy it now

img

Dell Inspiron 620 ST Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz / 3GB / 500GB / DVDRW / Win 7 Home Premium

£299.00- Buy it now

img

Apple iMac 27" (MC813)

£1353.99- Buy it now

Great benefits for subscribers!

Poll

Which is your preferred web browser

Jargon Buster

Computing terms explained in plain English

CAD

Computer Aided Design. Software used to create 3D models.

Great shopping deals from Computeractive