Publication - 16 September, 2008
Sony drops to 5th place with the same total score of 5.3 as Sony Ericsson, but with fewer points on the chemicals criteria, which determines the ranking when total scores are tied.Sony still does relatively well on chemicals, its score boosted by having models on the market that are partially free of PVC and BFRs, including three models of video recorders andmany models of the Personal Computer VAIO, “WALKMAN”, Camcorder and Digital camera.On waste issues, Sony scores relatively high by supporting Individual Producer Responsibility and providing some voluntary take-back and recycling of the e-waste generated by itsbranded products, although not much in non-OECD countries. It is reporting a recycling rate of 53% based on past sales of TVs and PCs, but this information is only for Japan.On energy Sony still has room for improvement; it scores points for disclosing externally-verified greenhouse gas emissions for over 200 sites, reporting on its use of renewable energy(1.02% as a proportion of total electricity use) in 2006 and committing to absolute cuts in GHG emissions. Sony is now reporting on energy efficiency: all AC adapters of “VAIO” PCsmeet the requirements of California’s Energy Efficiency Regulations. However, the reporting period for energy efficiency of PCs is incorrect and Sony has still to report on the energyefficiency of its TV models, put on the market since July 2005, the latest Energy Star standard for TVs.