Activists won't leave Michael Dell off the hook
Direct action at Dell HQ, May 2010
Dell's Commitment to Eliminating PVC Plastic and BFRs
Original Commitment:
In June 2006, Dell posted the following statement online committing to the elimination of PVC plastic and BFRs from all products by the end of 2009. This statement remained on the Dell website until February of 2008.
"Dell is committed to eliminate in our new products all remaining uses of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by 2009, as acceptable alternatives are identified that will not compromise product performance and will lower product health and environmental impacts."
Amended Commitments:
In November of 2008, Dell backtracked and removed the reference to a timeline altogether. A year later, in November 2009, Dell made a new commitment with an extended timeline, but limited its scope to personal computing products only (previously all products were included):
"By the end of 2011, all newly introduced Dell personal computing products will be BFR-, CFR- and PVC-free."
Timeline of Phase out of PVC plastic and BFRs in Electronics
2005
Nokia release first PVC free mobile phone.
2006
June – Dell commits to eliminate PVC plastic and BFRs from all products by the end of 2009
December – Lenovo and Acer commit to eliminate PVC plastic and BFR by the end of 2009
2007
May – Apple commits to eliminate PVC plastic and BFR from all new products by end of 2008
June – HP commits to eliminate PVC plastic and BFRs from personal computers 2009
March – Dell, Lenovo and HP served penalty points for backtracking on their commitments to phase out PVC and BFRs in the Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics v11 March – All Apple products are now free from PVC plastic and BFRs, with the exception of power cords
September – HP's penalty point is lifted following the release of a notebook free from PVC and BFRs
September – LGE is served a penalty point for backtracking on its commitment to phase out PVC and BFRs, joining Dell and Lenovo
December – HP releases a range of PVC plastic and BFR free products
December – Dell, Lenovo, LGE miss original deadlines to eliminate PVC plastic and BFRs
2010
January – Samsung missed deadline to release products that are BFR free, receives penalty point on Guide to Greener Electronics v15 alongside Dell, Lenovo and LGE for backtracking
January – Indian company Wipro launches a PVC and BFR free desktop PC
March – Greenpeace activists protest outside Dell's headquarters in Denmark, The Netherlands, and India highlighting backtracking on commitments.
March – Indian company HCL launches and PVC and BFR free laptop
May – Greenpeace activists protest outside Dell’s global headquarters in Texas highlighting Dell's continued lagging in creating a real action plan to finally eliminate PVC plastic and BFRs
May – Toshiba missed deadline to release PVC and BFR free products by April 2010, receives a penalty point