Philips back in the red again

Philips stands out as the biggest obstacle to tackling the growing problem of old electronics (e-waste) being dumped in developing countries. Not that you'll find any reference to such details in Philips’ marketing material. That's why we paid a visit to highlight the real consequences of Philips’ position. In fact, we discovered that never mind simply not mentioning the real truth, Philips’ public material was overflowing with elaborate wording gushing over how responsible, healthy and sustainable Philips is.

Circle of irresponsibility

We found a copy of Philips’ greenwashed press packet in a trash bin. It claims Philips’ event is all about a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a sustainable environment. It talks about responsible consumption and a shopping experience it calls the “Circle of Life.” Philips claims the concepts and products presented at the event are about its commitment to “health and well-being of people across the globe” and to “collective well-being, and helping to create a sustainable global society to protect our environment for future generations.”  If this is the case, then why does Philips fail to take back and recycling it products globally in contrast to many competitors like Dell and Nokia? Why does it refuse to accept the real costs of their own e-waste? Instead, Philips promotes and actively lobbies for governments and public to subsidise recycling its e-waste.

Unhealthy People, Unhealthy Living, Unhealthy Planet

Philips should take responsibility for its own products. If it is really interested in a “sustainable global society”, it should make sure all of its products are collected and not leave the burden of cleaning up toxic e-waste on unprotected workers. E-waste can end up in countries without recycling facilities and the recycling workers treating the waste - often children - are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and poisons when the products are broken apart.

Unprotected workers in the e-waste dumps of China, India, Pakistan and Ghana who end up dismantling Philips products are a world away from Philips’ 'Sense and Sensibility' marketing, but that doesn't change the fact that Philips is the company whose position is blocking real solutions to the problem. Watch the snap shot of personal stories of e-waste workers in Pakistan.

The words healthy and sustainable certainly don't spring to mind do they?

Other electronics producers, including Sony, Dell and Lenovo, accept responsibility for their own products, supporting ‘Individual Producer Responsibility’, and setting up free voluntary take-back systems for their products. Philips is lobbying against the implementation of individual producer responsibility, under existing legislation and its adoption in future legislation.

We are calling on Philips to accept responsibility for its own e-waste and to take back and recycle its products in every country where they are sold. It should pay for the recycling of its own products. When producers pay the real recycling costs, they have an incentive to stop using toxic materials in the design of their products and make them more durable and recyclable in order to lower the recycling costs.