Greenpeace activists return e-waste to Philips
With protests in the Netherlands, Denmark, India and Russia
today, Greenpeace is asking the Dutch electronics giant to
introduce uniform voluntary take-back systems. Philips does not
have the practice of voluntary take back of its e-waste in
countries like India where there is no mandatory law to this
effect.
"We are here to demand that Philips must stop discrimination in
its take-back practice and immediately commit to a uniform global
system Being a prominent global player, Philips simply can not
afford to ignore the environmental and health consequences of its
end-of life products in countries where it operates irrespective of
such countries not having mandatory law," said Abhishek Pratap,
Greenpeace India toxics campaigner.
In a recent opinion poll, 94% of the public in the Netherlands
backed Greenpeace's demand that electronics producers should take
responsibility for collecting their own-branded e-waste (1). At
present, most of it ends up in household waste or is exported,
often illegally, for dumping or rudimentary recovery in the
developing world.
As a first step, Philips should voluntarily set up credible
take-back systems in all countries where its products are sold,
and in particular in Russia, India, Argentina and Thailand. These
countries are currently discussing future national e-waste
legislation, so now is the ideal time for Philips to take the lead
by supporting, through its actions as well as its policies, the
principle of individual producer responsibility.
Philips stands out by publicly stating that recycling is a
shared financial responsibility for the customer, government and
the producer. According to Philips, consumers should pay for
recycling by a visible fee. (2)
Philips is lobbying against legislation that would make
companies directly responsible for the costs of recycling their own
products. As a result, the status quo of toxic product design,
which hampers recycling, is maintained (3).
"Companies such as Sony, Samsung and Nokia have put in place
voluntary take-back schemes even in countries where they are not
required to do so by law. Philips must have a full, uniform and
global programme of taking care of the e-waste generated from its
obsolete products, and change from being an environmental laggard
to an environmental leader," said Martin Besieux, Greenpeace
International toxics campaigner.
Voluntary take-back services will encourage producers to phase
out the use of toxic substances in their products at the design
stage, thus allowing for safer recyling and reduced end of life
costs for the companies. Greenpeace is demanding that all
electronics producers take full responsibility for their
own-branded e-waste on a global level, ensuring that is properly
recycled or disposed of.
For further information, contact
Abhishek Pratap, Toxics Campaigner @ 09845610749
abhishek. 
Saumya Tripathy, Greenpeace Communications @ 09343862212
Notes to Editor
(1) Survey conducted by GfK Panel Services Benelux in June 2008.
(2) Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Sustainability Report 2006,
page 55
http://www.philips.com/shared/assets/Downloadablefile/Sustainability-Annual-Report-2006(2)-16090.pdf
http://www.philips.com/shared/assets/Downloadablefile/Sustainability-Annual-Report-2006%282%29-16090.pdf>
(3) In 2006, Philips put at least 13 million television sets on the market, making it the third largest TV manufacturer in the world. Its products potentially represent at least 400,000 tons of e-waste once they become obsolete.
The calculation was made on the basis of original data by research firms iSuppli and DisplaySearch, accessed via:
EDN, 2007. "Top TV makers retain market lead as consumers embrace LCD sets" 9/25/2007. And, DIGITALHOME, 2007. Samsung is global television leader for 2006. 16/2/2007.
The 400,000 tons of e-waste figure, is a calculation based on the average weight (Wt) per TV estimated, referring to a period of 20 years, by the United Nations University for the European Commission in the following Study: "2008 Review of the Directive 2002/96 on Waste
Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Final Report available via:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/pdf/final_rep_unu.pdf