Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 5, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
“Green IT” is already possible today. But manufacturers must make more consistent use of existing innovations. That is the conclusion of the study “Searching for Green Electronics”, which Greenpeace is presenting at CeBIT today. The study focuses on the extent to which manufacturers are already avoiding hazardous chemicals. The energy efficiency and recyclability of the devices are also part of the investigation. The Sony Vaio TZ11 laptop, the Sony Ericsson T650i mobile phone and Sony Ericsson’s P1i PDA perform best. Nevertheless, even the best of the 37 products in total meet only just over half of the criteria applied by Greenpeace.
“Manufacturers cannot yet present us with a truly green product,” says Ulrike Kallee, Greenpeace’s chemicals expert, “but there are promising approaches. The IT industry is on the right track.” Devices from Sony and Sony Ericsson, for example, contain fewer heavy metals, brominated flame retardants and PVC than competing products. Dell, by contrast, focuses on energy efficiency. Toshiba, on the other hand, performs comparatively poorly when it comes to replacing environmental toxins.
For the study, Greenpeace last year asked companies to submit data on a maximum of three devices (laptop, desktop PC, mobile phone, PDA). 14 companies did so, allowing a total of 37 products to be assessed.
Many products still leave much to be desired, particularly with regard to “green design”. Many manufacturers continue to produce potentially disposable products whose batteries cost more than a new device. This is why the mountain of technology waste is growing faster than that of any other industry: according to United Nations estimates, up to 50 million tonnes of electronic waste are generated each year. Much of it is neither recycled nor reused. “Green IT is more than just energy-efficient devices. Manufacturers must address their products’ entire life cycle: from the extraction of raw materials through production to the recycling of old devices.” says Ulrike Kallee.
Greenpeace has been campaigning for environmentally friendly electronics since 2005. Numerous manufacturers have changed their environmental policies since then. Last year, for example, in response to Greenpeace’s “Green my Apple” campaign, Apple announced that it would stop using PVC and brominated flame retardants. Dell has assured Greenpeace that it will take back end-of-life devices in future.