Nokia passes buck over Greenpeace eco rating reduction
Third-parties to blame
Nokia has blamed third-parties behind its handset recycling scheme after Greenpeace docked points from the Finnish phone giant's environmental rating for failings the organisation found in its take-back efforts.
Greenpeace's manufacturer ranking: bad news for Nintendo
Greenpeace’s quarterly report, Guide to Greener Electronics, monitors the eco-credentials of the top 18 consumer electronics manufacturers, including computer and games console makers.
Nokia should have taken pole-position in the latest report, scoring 8.3 out of 10. However, Greenpeace slapped a penalty onto the company because of deficiencies it claims it found in Nokia's recycling programme. As a result, Nokia only scored 7.3 and was pushed back into third place, behind Toshiba and Samsung.
A Greenpeace spokeswoman told Register Hardware that although Nokia has a handset recycling scheme in place, the system simply doesn't work as effectively as it could. The organisation found that Nokia representatives in Russia and many developing nations didn't know about the programme and so were not promoting it to consumers.
Nokia’s director of environmental affairs, Markus Terho, claimed that the take-back scheme, which allows customers to dispose of old handset in recycling bins at Nokia stores, is working well. Nokia will also recycle other manufacturers' handsets, he said.
However, Terho admitted: “The scheme’s so big that we’ve had to outsource the service at the customer facing point in some countries. Many of these people change frequently and some therefore need extra training.”
Nokia's 3110 Evolve: made from 50 per cent recyclable material
Other manufacturers felt Greenpeace’s recycling wrath too. Nintendo, Philips and Microsoft remained the worst performers.
Nintendo rolled into last place with a 0.3 score. Greenpeace said the company had improved a tiny amount from the previous report, but that the Wii manufacturer was still “way behind” the others.
Philips scored 4.3, but was criticised for poor waste recycling. Microsoft was awarded 4.7 but, like Nokia, came under close scrutiny for the quality of its take-back scheme.
HP and Apple rested midway up the pecking order. However, HP, which scored 6.7, suffered because it doesn’t have a timeline for eliminating the most toxic chemicals from its products. Apple achieved the same score, but Greenpeace said the iPhone maker’s take-back scheme needs to be pushed out globally.
Samsung and Toshiba, which would have been nipping at Nokia’s heels had it not been for the penalty, took joint first place.
Greenpeace praised Toshiba’s continued e-waste and recycling policy. The organisation may have given Samsung a joint top spot, but it still criticised the Korean manufacturer’s “incomplete take-back practice”.
A full copy of the report is available on Greenpeace’s website.
COMMENTS
Re: and how does Greenpeace rate as a mobile phone supplier?
So, according to you, we should listen to Samsung's opinion on Nokia, Exxon's on BP and Microsoft's on Nintendo?
Re: So...
Of course they're not going to attack anything to do with their comrades in the red East! Capitalist pollution is of course far worse than communist pollution.
Who would you ask about this
Assuming that you don't like Greenpeace who should be asked about this sort of thing. I agree with recycling by using them for phones it's a lot better to reuse them than to trash them in some way. Personally I think environmental concerns are a critical mass thing when you can't live with the toxic mess any more then and only then will it be addressed effectively not before. This is like plane safety until a bunch of important people (politicians, corporate execs, sports stars) die horribly it won't get anything but hand waving.
There are a lot of old phones sittin in drawers
People get the basic "free" phone, two years latter the battery is going and a new one costs 80% of the price of a new phone. A 2 year old cheap phone with a dead battery has very little value, and there are a lot of people that have one or two sitting in a drawer, they are better off going in the Nokia bin then sitting in the drawer for another 5 years, or getting tossed in the trash.
Greenpeace?
Just Greenpeace leftists trying to expand their political mass movement into new territory.
Let's remember, these are the sort of people who signed petitions to ban water -- remember Penn and Teller's prank with "hydrogen monoxide".
