  |
|
  DONATE/JOIN NOW | RESOURCES | ACT NOW | ABOUT SVTC | PROGRAMS | MEDIA CENTER |
 |
|
 |
|||
|
 |
 | SVTC HOME > Clean Computer Campaign > 2000 CLEAN COMPUTER REPORT CARD > 1999 REPORT CARD Right-to-know a little… ..Exposing double standards in global high-tech production The different sections of the report are available in PDF as well. Annual Report Card's Executive Summary , Full report, Recommendations, Address of companies used for report., The scores in a spreadsheet To view and/or print you must have the Adobe Acrobat viewer, available at no charge. Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition Clean Computer Campaign December 19, 2000 Executive Summary Contact us at 408-287-6707 to receive a copy of the full report. The Clean Computer Campaign, a project of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, has completed the most comprehensive analysis ever published which evaluates the environmental information contained on the web sites of 44 of the largest high-tech companies in the world. The report evaluates 8 key indicators in an effort to answer the following question: Are high-tech companies providing consumers with enough information to make informed decisions about buying "green" electronic products? (For a summary of the many environmental and health impacts of high-tech production - see http://www.svtc.org) Many of the findings of the analysis are significant and some are surprising: The Findings: The report makes the following recommendations to consumers: Discussion The right-to-know is a sacred public trust. Consumers both need and want to know pertinent information in order to make informed decisions when spending hard-earned dollars. Historically, retailers and producers have used the buzz words "smaller", "faster" and "cheaper" as the mantra for holiday buying. Now it is time, given the huge environmental impact of high-tech production, for consumers to insist on a new mantra: "greener", "cleaner" and "more recycle-able". This is particularly important since most consumers are unaware of the toxic footprint and legacy of consumer electronics production, ranging from extensive groundwater pollution to serious occupational illness and air pollution. See www.svtc.org for further extensive information. The broad range of overall scores by company (from 0 - 55 out of a possible score of 87 points) illustrates the disparity among these high-tech companies in the disclosure on their websites of their environmental information, based on the 8 key indicators identified. See page Appendix C on page 25 for a description of the methodology used in this report. The U.S. high-tech industry has often been lauded as the global leader in technology developments as well as a leader in disclosing environmental information. This survey uncovers significant double standards in global environmental reporting, as U.S. high-tech companies rank a poor second or third -- and in some cases live in the cellar -- when compared to other global consumer electronics companies.
Scoring Trends Top Scores
Double standards
Product Stewardship--exhibiting environmental leadership - -"Starting October 2000, the entire LSI products will be made lead-free" - -"Starting December 2001, lead-free solder will be adopted for ˝ of the entire printed circuit board production." - -"Starting December 2002, the complete elimination of lead will be targeted. (http://fujitsu.co.jp/hypertext/About_fujitsu/environment/eco_20000321_e.html) It is clear that many toxics CAN be phased out. We challenge all global high-tech companies to be leaders and adopt these and other breakthrough technologies. It is time for companies to use their technological, intellectual and financial resources to assure that their production processes and their products (throughout their lifecycle) will safeguard environmental, community and worker health. Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard and Canon were the highest scorers of the group, receiving scores of 18, 17 and 16, out of 24, respectively. AMD, Applied Materials, Maxtor, Seagate, Silicon Graphics, Daewoo, Hyundai, Lucky Goldstar and SK Electronics all scored 0.
Hazardous and Toxic Chemicals - disclosing releases and use Applied Materials, Flextronics, Harris, Maxtor, Seagate, Silicon Graphics, Solectron, Daewoo, Hyundai, Lucky Goldstar and SK Electronics all scored a 0.
International operations- ensuring the highest protection in the era of globalization Agilent, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, Sun Microsystems, Sumitomo Electric, Solectron, SK Electronics, Silicon Graphics, Siemens, Seagate, Philips, Maxtor, Lucky Goldstar, Kyocera, Komag, Hyundai, Harris, Flextronics, Epson and Daewoo all scored 0.
Suppliers/subcontractors - maintaining corporate responsibility in the supply chain Sanyo, Hewlett-Packard and IBM had the highest scores in the group, receiving 5,5 and 4 out of 6, respectively, Toshiba, Sumitomo Electric, Soletron, SK Electronics, Silicon Graphics, Siemens, Seagate, Samsung, Quantum, Oki, Mitsubishi, Maxtor, Lucky Goldstar, Kyocera, Komag, Hyundai, Hitachi, Applied Materials, Harris, Flextronics, Epson, Daewoo all scored 0.
Energy - Lowest scorers in the group include: Agilent, Applied Materials, Flextronics, Harris, Komag, Maxtor, National, Quantum, Seagate, Silicon Graphics, Solectron, Daewoo, Hyundai, Lucky Goldstar and SK Electronics, all received a score of 0.
Water Use - adopting water efficiency technologies
Canon, NEC, Philips and ST Microelectronics all received scores of 10 out of 15. Agilent, Applied Materials, Dell, Flextronics, Harris, Hewlett-Packard, Lucent, Maxtor, Seagate, Silicon Graphics, Epson, Sanyo, Sumitomo Electric, Daewoo, Hyundai, Lucky Goldstar and SK Electronics all received a score of 0.
From 1 year to the next
Specifically, We hope that next years' report card will show marked improvements among all companies within each of the indicators specified. Conclusions This research is timely. The global high-tech industry is the largest and fastest growing manufacturing sector in the world. Computer manufacturing, because of its dependence on massive amounts of natural resources and toxic chemicals, has too often had negative impacts on community, worker and environmental health. Therefore, producers of computers and other electronic equipment must be as committed to providing reliable environmental data and to working towards sustainability as they are to increasing their global profits. Although scoring highly in most areas of the report card, it is clear that many companies also use their websites for "greenwashing" - creating a misleading and unwarranted image of environmental performance. Consumers can easily be swayed into believing information that makes a company appears "greener" than reality dictates. We strongly dissuade any company from utilizing statements without including facts as well. We have highlighted several examples and will continue to expose "greenwashing" when we see it. Consumers are encouraged to pay attention to the leaders and laggards of this industry and to use the power that we all carry in our wallets to send a message. A good place to start is by rewarding those companies that are doing a better job and by not purchasing from the companies that are the 'cellar dwellers.' We make the following recommendations to consumers:
Web addresses (Numbers 21-34 are Japanese corporations. The address of the Japanese site is followed by that of the English site. (as of August 2000) Webmaster's note: The web is dynamic and so are the company's websites. Not all these sites are current as of August 2001.
1. Agilent: www.agilent.com |
Fax: +1 408-287-6771 e-mail: svtc@svtc.org
PRIVACY POLICY