Over at Download Squad today, we're talking about the report on "green electronics" and "e-waste" that Gree eace released this morning. It's no secret that environmentalists have been unha y with A le--de ite their claims to be an eco-friendly company--for a long time. This is the first time, though, that a big environmental group has gone out and ranked some of the major players, and A le came in 11th out of the 14 companies rated. More disa ointing than the ranking--somebody's got to be last, right?--was A le's overall score: 2.7 out of ten. Companies were scored on a number of factors, from recycling programs, hazardous materials usage, and A le came up wanting in just about everything.
The good news? Many of the i ues are easy to fix. For i tance, A le has a lousy recycling program. They only accept co umer takebacks in five markets, and then only with purchase of a new A le machine. They could change that policy tomorrow to accept any used A le product for recycling, free of charge. In the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't cost that much and it might keep some Lithium and Mercury-laden computers and batteries out of the trash. They could also start accepting any machines as trade-i . Bring in your old ThinkPad and leave it at the A le Store when you walk out with your new M . They already do this for for corporate and education customers. Heck, if you're a school they'll even give you money for a trade-in on your old Dells. Why not at least offer to accept co umer equipment, and make a point of publicizing the fact.
A le also needs to make a public and tra arent commitment to ba ing hazardous su tances. They've said they're committed to sto ing the use of toxic PVC parts and Bromine Fire Retardant (BFR) coatings. But when? Just give us a date, Steve. Nokia sto ed using PVC in 2005 and will be BFR-free by 2007. The parts that go into a MacBook aren't that different from the parts that go into a Nokia 770. There are more of them in the MB, but they're not that different. The other thing most companies seem to be able to do that A le can't be bothered with is actually publishing a list of all the materials in their products. On that i ue, tra arency would itself be a huge step in the right direction.
And finally, they need to stop pa ing the buck when it comes to their partners. We know that A le employees are environmentally co cious, and 1 Infinite Loop is a pretty green place. Even Gree eace acknowledges that. It's time A le starts holding its su liers, contractors, and manufacturers to the same high standards.
There's no reason the a wer to "Who will be first to go green?" shouldn't be "A le." And since they've got one of the smallest manufacturing operatio of the companies surveyed and they already claim to be eco-friendly, it'll actually be kind of sad if that i 't the a wer.
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