Greenpeace activists at Samsung's India corporate office at Nehru Place, New Delhi ask the company to implement free, voluntary take back service in India for all its end-of-life products.
The activists asked the brand to live up to its commitment as
stated on its global website, and start free, voluntary and
comprehensive takeback service in India for all of its discarded,
end-or-life products.
The activists also distributed leaflets to the general public
comparing what Samsung is actually doing on e-waste management in
India with what Greenpeace demands from the company.
'For a leading brand like Samsung commanding a good market share
in India, it is not enough to announce a few takeback collection
points and that only for mobile phones. What about the whole range
of electronics products the company sells in India?" asked Abhishek
Pratap, Greenpeace toxics campaigner.
Following the release of the Greenpeace report "TakeBack
Blues-An assessment of e-waste takeback by brands in India" in
which, one of the findings indicated Samsung not having take-back
service for the country, the company has now decided to provide 8
takeback collection points, mainly in big cities in India.
Samsung is the leading LCD manufacturer and the third largest
mobile phone manufacturer in India. However, the company's
responsibility towards the environment has not grown with its
growing market share, at least, not until now, in India. Being a
strong and reputed global brand, it is expected that Samsung should
have consistent environmental policies and practices in every
country where it sells its products. Even though the brand offers
takeback services for some of its end-of-life products in the US,
Europe, China and its home country Korea, this is not enough as
these services are not for all its products.
Furthermore, Samsung (globally) supports the principle of
individual producer responsibility, but its actions in India
suggest that the company is not following this principle as it is
not keen to take responsibility for its end-of-life products
here.
"The decision to set up 8 collection points is a welcome step,
but not enough for a large country like India. We want Samsung to
immediately implement free, easy and pan-India takeback services
for its entire product range, in line with it's global commitment
to e-waste management and recycling," demanded Abhishek Pratap.
Takeback services will encourage producers to phase out the use
of toxic substances in their products at the design stage, thus
allowing for safer recycling and reduced end-of-life costs for
these companies. Greenpeace is demanding that all electronics
producers take full responsibility for their own brand's e-waste on
a global level, by ensuring that it is properly and safely recycled
or disposed of.
For more information, please visit www. designouttoxics.org
For further information, contact
Ramapati Kumar, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner +91 98455 35414
Abhishek Pratap, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner +91 98456 10749
Saumya Tripathy, Greenpeace Communications +91 93438 62212