The latest edition of Greenpeace’s "Guide to Greener Electronics" reveals that the world’s biggest PC manufacturers, Hewlett Packard, Dell and Lenovo, each failed to improve their low scores from the previous year. All three maintain a penalty point for backtracking on their commitments to eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of 2009.
Hewlett Packard (HP) received a received a public reminder of the need to re-prioritize toxic chemical phase out, when Greenpeace activists returned "toxic laptops" to the company’s Chinese headquarters last week. Greenpeace continues to confront HP, as activists made their presence know at HP’s Dutch headquarters where they greeted staff with pictures of the pollution that HP’s toxic products cause in Asia and Africa.
In 14th place, HP continues to lag behind other PC brands in the ranking, having postponed its 2007 commitment to phase out PVC and BFRs from its computer products (excluding its server and printer lines) from 2009 to 2011. Unlike Dell and Lenovo, however, HP is not even putting PVC and BFR-reduced products on the market.
Apple’s new line of computers are virtually free of PVC and completely BFR-free. They demonstrate the technical feasibility and supply-chain readiness of producing alternatives to these hazardous substances. Dell, Lenovo and Acer have also stayed ahead of HP, putting models on the market that are free, or at least significantly reduced in their use, of PVC and BFRs.
Greenpeace is challenging all companies to eliminate BFRs and PVC from their product offerings. These substances are harmful throughout the product’s entire lifecycle. Phase-out reduces pollution during the production and disposal of electronics and makes products capable of being recycled in a responsible manner.
