Feature story - February 4, 2010
In a classis case of David and Goliath, one of India’s biggest IT service provider (but relatively small PC manufacturing company), Wipro, has beaten giants like Dell, Samsung, Lenovo and LGE to the finish line in producing a computer, which is first major electronic product in India, free of worst toxic chemicals. This announcement marks another clear success for our green electronics campaign driving tech companies around the world to clean up their products.
A man takes a break in this workshop-living quarters, surrounded by heaps of electronic scrap.
The computer named "Greenware" is completely free of both
hazardous PVC (polyvinylchloride) and BFR (brominated flame
retardants) including Power Chords, a longtime demand of
Greenpeace. Greenware will cover 15% of Wipro's total PC produtc
portfolio.
In the race to produce greener electronic products Wipro joins
biggies like Apple, HP and Nokia who are leading the way on
eliminating toxic chemicals. It took several years of campaigning
for Greenpeace to obtain this result(Greenpeace has been
campaigning since the year 2005 for greener electronics), and we
are delighted to see that more companies are realising that greener
computers are vital.
2010 is the year many electronics companies pledged to remove
toxic chemicals like PVC and BFRs. Those that took this pledge to
the public seriously such as Apple, HP, Acer and now Wipro are now
delivering the same. Other companies that are far bigger than Wipro
in the global market such as Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and LGE are
failing to deliver what they promised.
Wipro, a rather small electronics manufacturing brand in global
market, is therefore doing what industry giants like Dell and
Samsung have failed to do - prioritise taking its responsibility
for a healthier planet. In the last ranking, Samsung lost points
for failing to give a clear timeline for removing toxic chemicals,
and so did other giants like Dell. We are thrilled to see there are
some leaders in the industry willing to show that tech and toxic
don't necessarily go hand in hand.
E-waste in India
Toxic waste is a particular concern in India along with other
Asian countries like China as a lot of the waste produced in
developed countries ends up being dumped here for crude recycling.
Poor regulations and control enable a traffic that is essentially
illegal.
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/campaigns/toxics-free-future/hi-tech-highly-toxic/where-does-e-waste-end-up
These toxic chemicals are more often than not handled by
children and poor workers who cannot protect themselves.
The current initiative by Wipro will add value to the on-going
e-waste law process where Wipro along with other Indian electronic
producer HCL are at forefront of leading the industry on their
active lobby work for e-waste rule and voluntary action on e-waste
management in the country. This new initiative will definitely set
the new horizon on toxic free computer manufacturing in Indian and
global market.
Now it's time for Wipro to use its leadership to steer the
Industry towards low carbon economy and high efficiency
standards