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Few HP employees probably know that their products end up as e-waste, or that the toxic contents end up poisoning Chinese workers, many of them children.
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Update March 8, 2006: HP rises to the toxic challenge.
Workers were greeted by a bright orange blimp floating above the entrance to the HP international headquarters in California. Hanging from the blimp was an image of a Chinese girl clutching an HP keyboard surrounded by an electronic waste (e-waste) scrapyard with the slogan - "HP = Harmful Products".
A pirate radio station broadcast a message encouraging workers and passers-by to contact the HP CEO Mark Hurd to demand they make cleaner products. The message was also delivered by phone to around 4000 employees working at the headquarters.
“HP is a prime example of a dirty electronics company,” said Greenpeace International toxics campaigner Iza Kruszewska. “It has done little to eliminate hazardous materials in its products, and it is lagging behind some of its competitors.”
Activists in China then delivered postcards to the employees at HP headquarters in Beijing along with e-waste components recovered from the Guiyu, e-waste dump site in the Guangdong Province of China. The activists, wearing boiler suits bearing the words "HP = Harmful Products," urged HP employees to work from within and call for hazardous substances in computer manufacture to be phased out.
"Greenpeace believes that most HP employees are unaware of how their products become toxic e-waste and pollute the environment in scrapping yards like Guiyu, in China. Armed with information we believe they will ask their managers to stop manufacturing such products" said Zhao Yang from Greenpeace China.
Some electronics companies, such as Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, LG and Motorola have taken a first step by committing to the elimination of all types of brominated flame retardants and PVC plastic from their products on set timelines. HP, Acer, Apple, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM, Lenovo, Panasonic, and Toshiba have, to date, made no such commitment.
Workers were greeted by a bright orange blimp floating above the entrance to the HP international headquarters in California. Hanging from the blimp was an image of a Chinese girl clutching an HP keyboard surrounded by an electronic waste (e-waste) scrapyard with the slogan - "HP = Harmful Products".
A pirate radio station broadcast a message encouraging workers and passers-by to contact the HP CEO Mark Hurd to demand they make cleaner products. The message was also delivered by phone to around 4000 employees working at the headquarters.
“HP is a prime example of a dirty electronics company,” said Greenpeace International toxics campaigner Iza Kruszewska. “It has done little to eliminate hazardous materials in its products, and it is lagging behind some of its competitors.”
Activists in China then delivered postcards to the employees at HP headquarters in Beijing along with e-waste components recovered from the Guiyu, e-waste dump site in the Guangdong Province of China. The activists, wearing boiler suits bearing the words "HP = Harmful Products," urged HP employees to work from within and call for hazardous substances in computer manufacture to be phased out.
"Greenpeace believes that most HP employees are unaware of how their products become toxic e-waste and pollute the environment in scrapping yards like Guiyu, in China. Armed with information we believe they will ask their managers to stop manufacturing such products" said Zhao Yang from Greenpeace China.
Some electronics companies, such as Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, LG and Motorola have taken a first step by committing to the elimination of all types of brominated flame retardants and PVC plastic from their products on set timelines. HP, Acer, Apple, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM, Lenovo, Panasonic, and Toshiba have, to date, made no such commitment.
Additional images Palo Alto ©Greenpeace/Mike Fox/zuma, Beijing ©Greenpeace/Natalie Behring
