Greenpeace blasts PC makers for broken promises

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Greenpeace has expressed "disappointment" that PC makers Lenovo, HP, and Dell have backtracked on a commitment to eliminate all PVCs from their products by the end of 2009.

In Greenpeace’s latest ‘Guide to Greener Electronics’ ranking, HP, Lenovo and Dell were penalised for backtracking on promises to get rid of PVC (vinyl plastic) and BFRs (brominated flame retardants).

According to the reports, only Apple and Acer out of the top five PC market leaders stuck to commitments to phase out the toxic substances.

It reserved special praise for Apple, which apart from one technical hurdle in PVC-free power cords, has already met its commitment to have its products free of PVC and BFRs by last year.

Greenpeace's toxics campaigner Iza Kruszewska told IT PRO that Acer was sticking to the commitment, which put it at a disadvantage to HP, Lenovo and Dell as they all competed on price.

She said: “By three of the companies saying they are stepping out and refusing to commit, it is going to be much more difficult for Acer to get prices down.”

Kruszewska said that the companies were not sticking to the commitment because alternatives in the short term would cost more. However, she said that there was no reason that PC companies couldn’t get rid of PVCs and BFRs in their products.

She said: “Last year we spent some time in Taiwan and China talking to suppliers because we wanted to find out the situation when it came to finding alternatives to PVC and BFRs.

“Many of them said they were almost ready for testing on alternatives, but were waiting for orders.”

Kruszewska said this was worrying, because if suppliers were not getting the right message from PC makers, they might reduce their efforts.

More positively, companies were starting to improve on energy criteria, with Greenpeace looking at ICT as a key sector when it came to tackling climate change.

The report mentioned Dell and Nokia joining HP and Philips in committing to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenpeace said that several companies were now increasing their use of renewable energy, with Nokia already sourcing a quarter of its electricity from renewables.

HP said that the Greenpeace report confirmed that the electronics industry as a whole continued to make progress bringing environmentally friendly products to market, and that it would continue its efforts to develop new products and programs.

Dell said its commitment was genuine, and it did deliver some BFR/ PVC product. However is claimed there were no viable alternatives to many of the components used in its products which included the chemicals, and had adjusted its timetable accordingly.

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