Green Tech

Greenpeace released its latest Guide to Greener Electronics on Wednesday, revealing that promises aren't always kept.

The Greenpeace guide, which started in 2006, ranks the top 17 PC, cell phone, TV, and gaming console manufacturers based on their policies regarding e-waste, climate change, and use of toxic chemicals.

Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Lenovo all dropped in the rankings for failing to live up to public promises to eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their computers by the end of 2009, according to Greenpeace.

While 2009 isn't over yet, Greenpeace noted that the companies have reset their clocks. HP (14th place) formally pushed back its phase-out of the chemicals to 2011. Dell (13th place) will fail to meet the 2009 deadline, but has offered no new timeline. Lenovo (down from 14th to 16th place) changed to a 2010 deadline, and Greenpeace claimed it has information that even that deadline will be dropped.

In conjunction with the release, members of the group protested at HP's Beijing facilities last week.

Apple, meanwhile, dropped to 11th place from 9th. Greenpeace gave the Mac maker kudos for its success in making products completely BFR-free and "virtually free of PVC," as well as its green computer campaign. But Apple was scolded for using "unreasonably high threshold limits for BFRs and PVC in products that are allegedly PVC-/BFR-free." As experts have noted, since there is currently no widespread standard for reporting on many environmental and carbon footprint issues, companies have been struggling to determine their own guidelines. Apparently, Greenpeace didn't like the ones it saw Apple using for this category.

Microsoft remained in 15th place, still admonished by Greenpeace for not having a better customer e-waste return policy.

Samsung garnered 2nd for succeeding in producing PVC-free LCD TVs and lowering the overall amount of toxins in its other products by significant amounts. Sony Ericsson moved up from 5th place to 3rd for improving its energy efficiency.

Last place? Still Nintendo, though Greenpeace gave the Wii maker points for switching to PVC-free internal wiring in their gaming consoles.

First place continues to be the province of Nokia, which remains the greenest company in the eyes of Greenpeace, notably for the success of its take-back program for used phones.

While many companies have gotten serious about recycling tech junk, Greenpeace sees e-waste as one of the most serious forms of pollution going unchecked.

The environmental organization claims that e-waste is the fastest growing contributor of municipal waste because of the frequency at which people upgrade to new cell phones, computers, and other electronics. According to its estimates, 20 million to 50 million tonnes of electronics are thrown away each year worldwide.(Others estimate that e-waste will plateau by 2015.)

CNET followed the last day of an analog TV's life as it was being recycled.

(Credit: Erik Palm/CNET)

On June 12, the U.S. makes its long-anticipated shift to digital television. As that changeover prompts consumers to ditch their old analog TV sets in favor of more modern devices, environmental organizations such as Greenpeace are warning of a surge in e-waste.

"We are seeing now a huge anticipated spike in the amount of electronic waste, really a tsunami of electronic waste coming through because of this digital transition," said Casey Harrell, a Greenpeace International campaigner.

And it's not just that the old television sets are piling up--as with scrapped PCs and printers, there's also the danger that they'll be exported to places with lax or nonexistent environmental safeguards.

"We're seeing a new wave of electronic waste that's ending up on the shores of India, China, West Africa, and Latin America," Harrell said.

E-waste often contains toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, and mercury, along with flame retardant chemicals that can accumulate in the body and potentially cause reproductive and neurological harm.

In the face of those concerns, some businesses are now promising to recycle your TV properly.

CNET News followed one aging analog TV as it headed to the next world, making its own transition from consumer electronics device to scrap metal and other parts. We met Mark Salvador as he was leaving his old Symphonic TV at a Waste Management site in San Leandro, Calif.

"The remote is not working, and the picture is not good. That is why we buy a new TV," Salvador said.

Salvador's TV set is transported from collector Waste Management to E-Recycling of California, in Hayward, south of Oakland. E-Recycling of California has pledged not to burn, dump, or export the waste, and for that reason it has received E-Stewards certification from the Basel Action Network, a watchdog group.

"We are actually dismantling it down into commodities...Everything's going at a commodity level on to be further recycled," Russ Caswell, manager at E-Recycling, explained. "A plastic-based television (is) 100 percent (recyclable). About the only thing on any television that doesn't always get totally recycled or reused would be a wooden case from an old console TV."

Ivan Tego of E-Recycling of California dismantles an analog TV.

(Credit: Erik Palm/CNET)

So what can you do to avoid contributing to the wave of electronic waste from the digital transition?

First, Greenpeace says, consider whether you really need a new TV. A digital converter box, subsidized by the government, can keep your old TV alive a few more years. Alternatively, the TV could continue its useful life for a while longer if you donate it to a charitable organization--the Environmental Protection Agency lists a number that will take the devices.

If you do decide to recycle the old TV, first go to the TV manufacturer's Web site for recycling information. (PC makers and retailers also offer recycling programs.) If you head to a recycling facility, make sure that the recycler has E-Stewards certification.

More information on recycling from EPA can be found here.

(Credit: Pike Research)

The contribution to landfills from electronics will actually escalate until about 2015, but good news will follow, according to a report released Wednesday by Pike Research.

So-called e-waste will reach a global volume of 73 million metric tons by 2015, then begin to decline in the years following as recycling initiatives and practices catch up to the rate of the production of electronic goods, according to the report called "Electronics Recycling and E-Waste Issues."

The prediction is the firm's own forecast based on the premise that companies and governments worldwide will continue and expand current recycling programs and initiatives--a practice Pike Research said will likely continue now that public awareness of the effects of e-waste dumping have been brought to light.

The report found that the efforts of nonprofit groups and the media to expose the effects of e-waste dumping have influenced original equipment manufacturers and recyclers worldwide to make an effort to clean up their act.

Pike Research touted the following companies as responsible leaders when it comes to recycling e-waste: Cisco, Dell, HP, Motorola, Nokia, Research In Motion, Sprint Nextel, and Vodafone.

It blamed low consumer effort to recycle old stuff as part of the problem, as well the dumping of e-waste in developing countries.

"Consumers have few incentives to reuse or recycle used electronics equipment. In most countries, it is still too easy and relatively inexpensive to throw e-waste in the trash. An optimistic estimate of average recycle rates is about 15 percent. Inconsistent legislation, minimal controls on the recyclers, and little enforcement has also led to widespread and inappropriate dumping of e-waste in developing countries," the report said.

WASHINGTON--If Congress can't figure out what to do with its old computers, members of the House of Representatives rationalized Wednesday, it's unlikely anyone else can.

Electronic recycling programs have been conspicuously unsuccessful, prompting the House Science and Technology Committee to draft a bill to fund grants for higher education programs related to e-waste management, as well as grants for research and development to find ways to better manage e-waste through product design, reuse, and recycling.

At a hearing Wednesday to review the initial draft of the bill, the legislators admitted they were not even sure what to do with their own used electronics and are unhappy with the way Congress disposes of its official electronic equipment.

"I've got a couple (computers) in my attic, and I keep worrying about them being there," said Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.).

"What do I do with them?" she asked the expert witnesses at the hearing. "Do I just take them to a recycling center?"

Witnesses at a hearing Wednesday discussed the merits of an e-waste bill being drafted by the House Science and Technology Committee.

(Credit: Stephanie Condon/CNET Networks)

Biggert is hardly alone in her confusion. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that, at best, only about 18 percent of electronic waste is recycled, pointed out Valerie Thomas, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

"Products need to be designed for recycling, and collection programs need to be very easy," Thomas said.

While electronic recycling and reuse programs have proven to be difficult for individuals to understand, some congressmen said the House protocol for disposing of old computers is also flawed.

Currently, once a computer from the House of Representatives no longer meets the House's standards like hard drive or processing speed requirements, it is required to be scrubbed of information and turned over to the U.S. General Services Administration. Congressmen are prohibited from selling the computers to staffers, donating them, or doing anything else with them.

"It's ludicrous we can't give our computers to local educational organizations," said Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.).

Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation in January to permit congressmen to donate used computer equipment to public elementary and secondary schools.

While Baird applauded Serrano's legislation, he admitted he was hesitant to donate or recycle his personal computer out of concern over the data that may be left on the machine.

"I don't know what's on them, but I don't want somebody else to find out what's on them," he said. "I paid more money for a system that works less well, and now I can't recycle my old (computer). That's pretty stupid."

A lack of confidence in reuse programs is a fundamental problem with e-waste, said Willie Cade, CEO of PC Rebuilders and Recyclers, a Chicago-based refurbishing company.

"We need people to be able to feel safe about getting rid of their equipment," Cade said. "Once that happens, they'll start bringing their equipment out."

He said that the computers brought to his facility are on average just over 10 years old, suggesting that consumers hang on to old equipment for some time--and that recyclers will have to deal with machines built out of the current toxic materials in use for some time.

However, future computer models could be built out of more sustainable, easily recycled materials, the witnesses said. The draft legislation the committee is considering could fund research for sustainable design frameworks.

"These are design challenges, and by taking on the basic research with a sustainability framework, we can change this equation," said Paul Anastas, director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale. "(Companies) could meet environmental and economic goals simultaneously."

One of the provisions of the draft bill would provide funding for consortiums of at least one nonprofit entity and at least one for-profit entity. Gordon said one of the main points of the legislation is to encourage the electronics industry to contribute to e-recycling efforts.

While the draft does not yet suggest how much money should be appropriated to the new grant programs it would create, it says that the for-profit entities involved in the consortiums would have to contribute at least 10 percent of the total R&D costs.

Consumers are increasingly demanding better environmental attributes in their digital gadgets, but the consumer electronics industry can go a lot further to make gadgets "green."

Environmental watchdog Greenpeace held a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Friday to announce results of its second annual survey called "Green Electronics: the Search Continues."

(Credit: Greenpeace)

The good news is that manufacturers are using fewer hazardous chemicals, such as PVC plastic, and are running more electronic take-back programs. Another positive trend is the use of LED screens for notebooks, which are relatively energy efficient and use less mercury than other technologies.

But many manufacturers are slow in adopting EnergyStar energy-efficiency standards or using recycled materials. Consumer electronics companies should also take more responsibility for recycling, according to Greenpeace. (Click here for a PDF of the study.)

The assessment, which follows Greenpeace's ratings of individual vendors issued in November, comes at perhaps the most environmentally themed CES so far.

The show organizer, the Consumer Electronics Association, earlier this week issued results of a survey that found that consumers are increasingly looking for green attributes, as are manufacturers looking to differentiate products.

"Green is becoming a purchasing factor," Steve Koening, director of industry analysts at the CEA, told the BBC.

More than half of consumers are willing to pay a little more for products designed with the environment in mind, while 22 percent said that they are willing to pay 15 percent more.

Also telling were consumers' responses to what is considered "green." Over half of those surveyed said they didn't know what the environmental attributes of high-tech products were and 38 percent said they were confused by the "green" label.

That's not surprising given the explosion in green claims in the past few years. And when you consider the diversity of what's considered green tech at CES alone--from power strips that eliminate vampire loads to cell phones made from recycled material--it hints at the many aspects of "going green."

The CES show also hosted a Greener Gadgets Tech Zone and had a "Technology and Environment" session track with panels on electronics recycling and energy use.

Before the conference began, the organizers used a carbon emissions-management software application in an effort to lower the environmental impact of the event.

Greenpeace said that electronics manufacturers are making progress on reducing toxic materials and waste, but not making bold enough moves to cut energy usage.

The environmental watchdog on Monday published its 10th Guide to Greener Electronics, which it releases every three months. This edition adds five new criteria for energy, including whether manufacturers report usage, whether they purchase renewable power, and how efficient their products are.

Out of the pack, Nokia is on top, with Nintendo and Microsoft bringing up the rear.

Nokia get props for its comprehensive take-back program, which is now in 124 countries. In 2005, it phased out the use of PVC plastics and has set a target of cutting out brominated flame retardants and antimony trioxide by the end of next year.

Microsoft ended up in the second-to-last position for the second year largely because it has not yet phased out the use of toxic chemicals and doesn't have a voluntary take-back program. Nintendo gets rapped across the knuckles for not committing to a timeline for cutting out hazardous materials .

Meanwhile, Apple--once a last-place finisher--gets kudos from Greenpeace for its recently launched MacBook, which Apple touts as the "industry's greenest notebook." But Apple, too, still uses toxics in many products and it can do more on recycling and greenhouse gas emissions, says Greenpeace.

The lousy scores notwithstanding, Greenpeace says that, as a group, electronics manufacturers are improving when it comes to electronic waste and hazardous chemicals. But it added energy usage to its yardstick because global warming is an urgent problem.

"We need more than green talk from companies before we can call them leaders," said Greenpeace International campaigner Casey Harrell, in a statement. "We need to see action--rapid deployment of clean energy, innovative efficiency solutions and bold advocacy for fast action on global warming."

Perhaps not surprising, the The Consumer Electronics Association reacted a bit defensively to the latest report.

Parker Brugge, vice president of environmental affairs for the Consumer Electronics Association, told The New York Times Green Inc. blog that there has been a good deal of progress within the industry on environmental matters.

At the same time, he acknowledged that there is still more that can be done. "I'm not suggesting the products the industry makes are completely sustainable," he said.

People no doubt complain that Greenpeace is nitpicking or being too harsh in rating electronics manufacturers. But that's what an environmental watchdog group does: set a high bar and encourage corporations to meet it.

If done well, these sorts of scorecards also help consumers sort out the various factors that should back up the many green marketing campaigns.

Updated November 11 at 3:50 a.m. PT with link to e-Stewards web site linking to all firms involved in the effort.

Activists groups on Monday launched a certification program meant to identify responsible recyclers of electronic gear in North America.

The program, called the e-Steward Initiative, was organized by the Basel Action Network, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, and recycling firms such as Electronic Recyclers International.

The launch of the program was timed with the release of a 60 Minutes segment that publicized problems in the electronic waste recycling industry.

"Unfortunately today, most companies calling themselves electronics recyclers are scammers," said Sarah Westervelt, e-Stewards project coordinator at the Basel Action Network (BAN) in Seattle, in a statement. "They simply load up containers of old computers and ship them off to China or Africa."

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The point of e-Steward Initiative is to certify that toxic materials from computers and cathode-ray tubes are not dumped in developing countries, local landfills, or incinerators. It is also meant to audit the use of prison labor or unauthorized release of private data.

Take-back and recycling services
Meanwhile, there is a growing number of services aimed at taking back electronics either for resale or recycling.

Second Rotation, a company that offers a take-back service for consumer electronics, said on Monday that it has raised a series B round of funding worth $6 million. The company's Gazelle's service will buy back used electronics. Data is erased and the products are then resold or recycled.

Another firm, called Flipswap, offers a trade-in service where it buys back used cell phones and iPhones to resell them. The company is expected to raise a round of funding in the coming weeks.

Another new company in tech recycling and repurposing is TechForward, which launched a buy-back program offered to consumers at the point of sale.

In Sunday's 60 Minutes, the CBS TV news magazine examines the lucrative but shadowy business of mining e-waste--junked computers, televisions, and other old electronic products--for valuable components, including gold. However, often illegal and hazardous activity creates toxic pollution, which in turn leads to brain damage, kidney disease, cancers, and mutations. In the segment, correspondent Scott Pelley examines the ethics of the recycling industry. (For the full 60 Minutes segment, see "The Electronic Wasteland.")

In the first clip, Pelley takes a tour of Denver electronic waste recycling company GRX, a member of "E-Stewards." The stringent program is run by the Basel Action Network, a watchdog group that certifies ethical recyclers that do not ship their toxic materials overseas.

In the second clip, the 60 Minutes crew chronicles piles of electronics blanketing the Chinese countryside waiting to be recycled. E-waste workers in Guiyu, China, where Pelley's team videotaped, put up with the dangerous conditions for the $8 a day the job pays.

In the third clip, scientists discuss e-waste, the fastest-growing component of the municipal waste stream worldwide, and the impact it has on those whose lives depend on it. The toxic pollution from black market recycling leads to brain damage, kidney disease, cancers, and mutations.

In the fourth clip, Pelley and his crew are attacked and threatened with violence by area gangsters overseeing the e-waste operations who tried to take the CBS team's cameras. The smugglers were trying to protect the lucrative business of mining e-wasted. However, Pelley's crew managed to escape and bring back footage of the hazardous activities.