Tech industry still leaving dirty great footprints, says Greenpeace

Improving but must try harder

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in PCs & Chips, 8th January 2009 10:10 GMT

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Consumer electronic goods are a little bit greener than those sold a year ago, according to a new report from Greenpeace.

However, the eco-hardliner pressure group has warned that the industry could still do a whole lot more to improve its environmental footprint.

Greenpeace found that fewer electronic products on the market contained PVC plastic. It added that fewer hazardous chemicals were being used in manufacturing.

Vendors are using “larger quanties of post-consumer recycled plastic” in televisions and monitors, said the group.

Lenovo came out on top of the Greenpeace list with its L2440x wide computer monitor scoring 6.9 points out of 10.

Other product category winners included Sharp’s LC-52GX5 TV, which scored 5.92 points, Samsung’s F268 mobile phone (5.42), Hewlett-Packard’s Elitebook 2530P laptop (5.48) and the Lenovo ThinkCentre M58 Desktop (5.88).

Greenpeace focused its scoring criteria on toxic chemical phase-out, energy efficiency, product lifespan and energy used in production. Additional points were given for something Greenpeace likes to describe as, er, “unique innovation”.

“The electronics industry is heading in the right direction. To stay in the race, each company needs to put its foot on the accelerator, applying any progress it has made across all of its product lines and adopting each other’s best practices,” said Greenpeace international toxics campaigner Casey Harrell.

“We’re confident that, as part of the most innovative industry on the planet, these companies can step up to this green challenge.”

However, not everyone in the tech industry took part in the survey. Notable absentees included Apple, Microsoft and Asus. ®

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