- THE PROBLEM WITH ELECTRONICS
- Problem Overview
- Quickly Obsolete
- Hard to Recycle
- E-Waste Badly Managed
- OUR WORK FOR SOLUTIONS
- Overview
- Producer Takeback
- Green Design
- Responsible Recycling
- Legislation and Policy
Report on Greening Electronics
Apple, Sony Ericsson and Major Suppliers are Leading the Industry in Removing Chlorine and Bromine Based Substances from Electronic Products. Learn more
Resources To Learn More about Green Design
ETBC partner group Clean Production Action works on:
- Green chemistry
- The Green Screen - a screening tool for chemicals
- Sustainable materials
New Plastics ScorecardNew tool evaluates environmental and human health impacts of plastics across their life cycle.
Clean Production Action developed this new tool to help manufacturers, purchasers and government agencies evaluate various plastics based on their impact across their lifecycles -- from feedstock production and manufacturing to use and disposal.
The Ultimate Solution: Green Design
What Are Green Electronics?
While most electronics manufacturers like to talk about their "green" products, electronics are still made with a lenthy list of toxic materials, which are problemmatic both in production and when it comes time to recycle or dispose of these products. See Toxics in E-Waste.
The Electronics TakeBack Coalition encourages the industry to adopt Green Engineering Principles, which consider the entire life cycle of the product (including product recycling/end of life) when the product is designed. Too often, designers ignore the end-of-life phase of the product, and we end up with products which are challenging to recycle, both because of materials chosen as well as physical design.
Frequently companies say their products are "green," but when you examine these marketing claims, you find they have simply implemented the ROHS requirements (Reduction of Hazardous Materials) which are legally mandated by the European Union, or because they have implemented some energy savings measures. While both are important steps, these two things alone are far from making a toxic product "green."
How Can Consumers Find Green Products?
We will warn you now, you won't like this answer. There really are no "green" electronics yet. There are far too many toxic chemicals used in these products for them to qualify as green. But there are some modest steps towards sustainability that some companies have taken. There is no single place where consumers can look for this information, however. Here are some developing tools consumers can consider.
EPEAT. This is a "green label" of sorts, where computer companies to grade their products against some green criteria, and score them as bronze, silver or gold. But it's aimed at institutional purchasers, not consumers, so many of the computers and products that consumers want aren't even on this list. But some are, so look for the Gold products.
TV Company Recycling Report Card. We have our own grading system for the TV companies' recycling programs. One important element of "green" is whether you can easily recycle your old product with the manufacturer. (This will be expanded to cover the computer companies in Summer 2009.) This link will lead you to our Take Back My TV site.
Greenpeace's Electronics Scorecard. Greenpeace has a scorecard that grades the companies against several criteria, although material selection is the important focus here. This is updated every few months.
Tell The Companies You Want Green Electronics
The electronics companies respond to consumer demand, over and above all other factors. And honestly, they mostly don't believe that consumers really care about whether their products are green - especially not if it means they will cost more. So if you DO care, then let them know. If you have decided to make a purchase of one product over another because of the company's green improvements, let them know.
Computer Companies Take Step Backwards on Toxic Chemicals
HP, Dell and Lenovo backed off from commitments to phase out toxic PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) by the end of 2009.
See the latest Greenpeace Electronics Scorecard (March 31, 09) showing Dell, HP, and Lenovo losing points and getting lower grades for failing to live up to those commitments.
Apple Sets New Materials Standard
While HP, Dell and Lenovo say they can't phase out these toxic chemicals any time soon, Apple is now BFR-free and PVC-free except for power cords. Apple has made a commitment to re-engineer all of its products to remove elemental forms of bromine and chlorine, two toxic chemical categories. Learn more about Apple's efforts to green its products in this fact sheet by Clean Production Action.
Link to more articles on Green Design
