AMSTERDAM/ BANGALORE: Environmental activist organization Greenpeace launched the 'Guide to Greener Electronics', which ranks companies on their use of harmful chemicals and electronic waste recycling. The scorecard ranks the 14 top mobile and PC producers globally.

Nokia and Dell share the top spot in the ranking. They believe that as producers they should bear individual responsibility for taking back and reusing or recycling their own-brand discarded products. Nokia leads the way in eliminating toxic chemicals; since the end of 2005 all new models of mobiles are free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and all new components will be free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) by the start of 2007. Dell has also set ambitious targets for eliminating these harmful substances from their products.

Third place goes to HP, followed by Sony Ericsson, Samsung (5th), Sony (6th), LG Electronics (7th), Panasonic (8th), Toshiba (9th), Fujitsu Siemens Computers (10th), Apple (11th), Acer (12th) and Motorola (13th). Lenovo is at the bottom of the pile. It earns points for chemical management and providing some voluntary product take back programs, but needs to do better on all criteria.

Greenpeace India was in the news recently when it held a demonstration outside the Wipro office in Bangalore, to highlight the toxicity of electronic waste. In response, Wipro committed to a phase-out of hazardous chemicals from its electronic products.

“It is shameful that despite being a premier industry in this country, the Indian electronics sector is failing to address the toxic threat its products pose to the environment and health of people. It’s time for them to stop trashing the planet, and show that they are capable of being environmentally conscious,” said Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace India Toxics Campaigner.

"The scorecard will provide a dynamic tool to green the electronics sector by setting off a race to the top. By taking back their discarded products, companies will have incentives to eliminate harmful substances used in their products, since this is the only way they can ensure safe reuse and recycling of electronic waste," said Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner.

The guide will be used to create demand for toxic-free electronics which can be safely recycled, by informing consumers about company performance on these two issues.

Companies have the opportunity to move to a greener ranking as the guide will be updated every quarter. However penalty points will be deducted from overall scores if Greenpeace finds a company lying, practising double standards or involved in other corporate misconduct. For now, companies are scored solely on information publicly available on their global websites.

The scoring is weighted more heavily on the use of toxic substances in production rather than criteria on recycling, because until the use of harmful substances is eliminated in products, it is impossible to secure 'safe', toxic-free recycling.

© CyberMedia News