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Over the last couple of years we have been pressuring leading companies
to remove the most toxic chemicals from their products. With
companies as diverse as H&M, Puma, Adidas, Hewlett Packard and
Nokia, we have scored some notable successes.
Many chemicals in everyday products are now common environmental pollutants. Almost everyone has dozens of man-made chemicals in their body, and the effects of these chemical cocktails on our health are largely unknown.
Back in October 2005 we congratulated Motorola for joining the good guys when they made toxic clean-up promises. In a July 2005 letter, Motorola committed to phase out all toxic brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in its mobile phones by mid 2007 and to provide a phase out date for the hazardous plastic PVC by March 2006. But after follow-up talks on their progress we received a letter on 15 May 2006 stating that Motorola cannot phase out BFRs and PVC from their products.
Motorola's letter makes several excuses for not keeping their promise. But other mobile phone companies have shown us progress rather than excuses. Sony Ericsson has already removed BFRs from all their models except one. Nokia has already removed PVC in all new models and all new components will be free of BFRs from 1st January 2007.
For the other companies that made commitments in 2004 and 2005 it is time to put words in to action. Both LG electronics and Samsung are currently behind on their promises but still working towards elimination of these toxic chemicals. Both companies have large product ranges from cameras to refrigerators that can make elimination from the whole product range more complex. Motorola makes mainly mobile phones so it doesn't even have the excuse of a diverse product range.
Check out how the top electronics companies compare on eliminating toxic chemicals and consider who you want to get your money next time you go shopping for electronics.
So Hello? Motorola? If your competitors can make their products greener, why can't you?
Many chemicals in everyday products are now common environmental pollutants. Almost everyone has dozens of man-made chemicals in their body, and the effects of these chemical cocktails on our health are largely unknown.
Back in October 2005 we congratulated Motorola for joining the good guys when they made toxic clean-up promises. In a July 2005 letter, Motorola committed to phase out all toxic brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in its mobile phones by mid 2007 and to provide a phase out date for the hazardous plastic PVC by March 2006. But after follow-up talks on their progress we received a letter on 15 May 2006 stating that Motorola cannot phase out BFRs and PVC from their products.
Motorola's letter makes several excuses for not keeping their promise. But other mobile phone companies have shown us progress rather than excuses. Sony Ericsson has already removed BFRs from all their models except one. Nokia has already removed PVC in all new models and all new components will be free of BFRs from 1st January 2007.
For the other companies that made commitments in 2004 and 2005 it is time to put words in to action. Both LG electronics and Samsung are currently behind on their promises but still working towards elimination of these toxic chemicals. Both companies have large product ranges from cameras to refrigerators that can make elimination from the whole product range more complex. Motorola makes mainly mobile phones so it doesn't even have the excuse of a diverse product range.
Check out how the top electronics companies compare on eliminating toxic chemicals and consider who you want to get your money next time you go shopping for electronics.
So Hello? Motorola? If your competitors can make their products greener, why can't you?
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