Two leading nonprofit environmental organizations, ChemSec and Clean Production Action, today announced a new precedent setting research report on companies that are leading the electronics industry by moving away from chemicals that can lead to health and environmental problems. The report: “Greening Consumer Electronics: Moving Away from Bromine and Chlorine” features seven companies who have engineered environmental solutions that negate the need for most — or in some cases all — uses of brominated and chlorinated chemicals.
“These seven companies demonstrate that there are less toxic and still cost effective alternatives to substances of high concern that do not compromise performance or reliability,” said CPA Project Director Alexandra McPherson, in the press release. “They are well positioned to gain competitive advantage in a marketplace and regulatory environment increasingly sensitive to the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products.”
High volume uses of bromine and chlorine in flame retardant and plastic resin applications such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gained worldwide attention when scientific studies demonstrated their link to the formation of highly toxic dioxin compounds. Dioxin, a potent human carcinogen that is toxic in very low amounts, along with other problematic compounds, are unintentionally released into the environment during the burning and smelting of electronic waste.
The current recycling and waste infrastructure to safely reuse and recycle obsolete equipment is insufficient for the fastest growing waste stream in the world. Furthermore, much of the waste is increasingly shipped to developing countries with even less capacity for appropriate waste management. Many studies document the accumulation of these widespread pollutants in air, water, soil, and sediment, where they are increasingly ingested by humans and animals.
“This report provides critical guidance for those companies who have yet to make this material transition,” said Nardono Nimpuno, Senior Policy Advisor at ChemSec. “Reduction of bromine and chlorine is a critical demonstration of environmental leadership on toxic use reduction within the broader sustainability lens of improving the full life cycle impacts of products. It is our goal to use this information to leverage these changes across the entire electronics sector.”
The following seven companies featured in this report demonstrate best industry practices and provide critical guidance for the development of environmentally robust and sound industry- wide standards and policies.
Apple (US) – Apple established an innovative program that restricts the use of nearly all bromine and chlorine compounds across all their product lines. As such, Apple now offers a wide range of PVC and BFR free consumer products including iPhones and iPods, as well as computers that are free of BFRs and most uses of PVC.
Sony Ericsson (UK) – Sony Ericsson is not only removing substances of concern from their products, but also taking on the complicated task of establishing full chemical inventories for all their product lines. The company’s products are now 99.9% BFR free and will have no PVC components by the end of 2009.
Seagate (US) – The largest disk drive manufacturer in the world is now creating new disk drives that no longer use chlorine- and bromine-based chemistries. This success was largely facilitated by the company’s full material disclosure system.
DSM Engineering Plastics (Netherlands) – This major plastic material manufacturer is among the first to offer a complete portfolio of engineering plastics that are free of bromine and chlorine. They developed and produced a new high temperature polyamide 4T polymer with bromine free grades for connectors and sockets as well as a thermoplastic co-polyester that can be used as a replacement for PVC-based wire and cables.
Nan Ya (Taiwan) and Indium (US) – Nan Ya, a major laminate manufacturer, and Indium, a high-end manufacturer of solder paste and flux, both overcame major technical challenges to produce bromine- and chlorine-free components for printed circuit boards that met the same reliability standards of their halogenated counter parts.
Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (US) – This semiconductor manufacturer was the first in the industry to supply Apple and others with bromine-free chips.
“Greening Consumer Electronics: Moving Away from Bromine and Chlorine” was written by Clean Production Action (CPA), a nonprofit based in the U.S. dedicated to providing strategic solutions for green chemicals, sustainable materials and environmentally preferable products; and the European-based ChemSec (The International Chemical Secretariat), a nonprofit working to highlight the urgent need to phase out hazardous substances and bridge the gap between science, business and policy-makers.
The report was produced independently by these two organizations and did not receive funding from any commercial entities.
The full report along with other background materials and photos can be found at www.cleanproduction.org and www.chemsec.org.
Source: ChemSec
Way to go Apple.
Dear Greenpeace: the new Seagate disk drives are made from 100% recyclable manatee and dolphin hides.
So Greenpeace’s high ratings for Dell and HP were what? A lie?
Greenpeace lies!
Say it ain’t so, Joe.
Considering how often people believed Microsoft’s vaporware, is it really surprising that a group like Greenpeace would believe environmental (vapor-)promises?