In May, after thousands of you had participated in our Green my
Apple campaign,Steve Jobs the boss of Apple claimed: "Apple is
ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors" on
environmental issues.
We watched closely when the iPhone was launched in June for any
mention of the green features of the phone from Apple. There was
none.
So we bought a new iPhone in June and sent it our research
laboratories in the UK. Analysis revealed that the iPhone contains
toxic brominated compounds (indicating the prescence of brominated
flame retardants (BFRs)) and hazardous PVC. The findings are
detailed in the report, "Missed
call: the iPhone's hazardous chemicals"
There have been thousands of media articles about the iPhone.
Few of them have discussed the phone's environmental credentials.
Check out our video of the disassembly of the iPhone and what the
tests revealed:
An independent scientific laboratory tested 18 internal and
external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of
brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone's
antenna, in which they made up 10 percent of the total weight of
the flexible circuit board. A mixture of toxic phthalates was found
to make up 1.5 percent of the plastic (PVC) coating of the
headphone cables.
"Steve Jobs has missed the call on making the iPhone his first
step towards greening Apple's products," said Zeina Alhajj,
Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. "It seems that Apple is
far from leading the way for a green electronics industry as
competitors, like Nokia, already sell mobile phones free of
PVC".
Dr. David Santillo, Senior Scientist at the Greenpeace Research
Laboratories, commented, "Two of the phthalate plasticisers found
at high levels in the headphone cable are classified in Europe as
'toxic to reproduction, category 2' because of their
long-recognized ability to interfere with sexual development in
mammals. While they are not prohibited in mobile phones, these
phthalates are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles
sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the use of these chemicals
from its products range."
Here's a slideshow of how the iPhone was disassembled for
testing:
The disassembling also revealed the iPhone's battery was,
unusually, glued and soldered in to the handset. This hinders
battery replacement and makes separation for recycling, or
appropriate disposal, more difficult, and therefore adds to the
burden of electronic waste.
Behind the competition
Nokia is totally PVC free,
Motorola and
Sony Ericsson have already products on the market with BFR free
components. Apple's competitors have also identified extra toxic
chemicals they intend to remove in the future - beyond current
minimum legal requirements.
Nokia and Sony Ericsson have a global take-back policy for their
phones and accept responsibility for reuse and recycling of phones
they manufacture. That saves resources and helps prevent old phones
from adding to the mountain of e-waste that has been dumped in
Asia.
Apple does not have a global free take-back policy so the
eventual fate of the between four and 10 million iPhones expected
to be sold in its first year is uncertain.
With next month's European launch of the iPhone, Apple should
sell a version which is at least as green as the offerings from
Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola.
Only then can loyal fans of Steve Jobs believe that his promises
of a greener Apple will bear any fruit. Right now Steve appears to
have any green product news 'on hold'.
The full report, "Missed
call: the iPhone's hazardous chemicals"
Compare
Apple's environmental policy and practice to other
companies.
iPhone Phthalates Violate California Law
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