How the companies line up

Companies at the top of the class are going further than required by EU law on hazardous substances (ROHS) that comes into force in July 2006. Those at the bottom have made no commitment other than the minimum required by law.

None of these companies have a global policy on electronic waste so this listing is based only on global policy on toxic chemicals in products. Click the names to contact the companies directly.

First in Class:

Sony - Committed to reduce, substitute and eliminate, wherever possible, the use of substances that are potentially hazardous to the environment. More info.

Nokia - Committed to phase out hazardous substances by end of 2006. More info.

Samsung - Committed to phase out hazardous substances with plans for substitution by end 2005. More info.

Sony Ericsson - Committed to phase out hazardous substances by end of 2005. More info.

LG - Adopting a precautionary approach to safe guard human health and the environment. Committed to phase out plan for hazardous substances by the end of 2005.

The bad guys:

Apple

Fujitsu-Siemens

Dell  

HP/Compaq

Toshiba

Siemens

Panasonic

IBM/Lenovo

Acer