Motorola falls from 6th to 9th place despite improvements in the geographical coverage of its takeback and recycling program. Although the company offers its customers an increasing number of models that are free from BFRs, it has still to provide information on PVC-free models and commit to timelines for eliminating all BFRs and PVC from its entire product portfolio. Motorola provides voluntary take back/recycling services in 57 countries, accounting for more than 90 per cent of global mobile phone sales. It has reported a recycling rate of 3.32 per cent, as a percentage of sales 12-24 months before – the average lifespan of a mobile phone.

Toshiba has dropped from 7th to 10th place. The company has committed to eliminate PVC and BFRs in all its products and has set a timeline of 2009. The company offers models of laptops whose circuit boards are free of BFRs and EcoMark-certified products without PVC. The company lacks support for individual producer responsibility, but has improved on geographical coverage of its voluntary takeback program and information to customers on what to do with their discarded products.

Acer has dropped from 9th to 11th place. It has yet to start selling products free of PVC and BFRs. Acer has also improved communication of its waste policy and practice, but still needs to do more on providing voluntary takeback and recycling of its end-of-life products.

Apple claims to have changed their policies which they call ‘the greener apple’. However, Greenpeace considers their products as ‘Poison Apple’. The company has slid down the ranking to 12th position with no new improvements, while its competitors race ahead. The company has committed to eliminate all uses of PVC and BFRs in its products by the end of 2008. It now provides examples of additional substances that it plans to eliminate with timelines, such as arsenic in LCDs and mercury, and Material Safety Data Sheets for all its products. But, Apple has yet to offer consumers products that are free of PVC and BFRs.

HP is now in 13th place down from 6. It has weakened its support for individual producer responsibility and has provided a substitution timeline for future substances. It was the first company to devise an electronic waste take back /recycling metric based on a percentage of sales. HP fails to provide timelines for the complete elimination of PVC and all BFRs.

Panasonic has dropped to bottom position after hovering near the bottom. It has added two models of lighting equipment free of BFRs and are manufacturing halogen-free printed wiring boards for certain applications and markets. Panasonic has committed to eliminating all uses of PVC in its products starting with internal wiring, as this hampers recycling. All have set a timeline of 2011 for getting PVC out of its notebooks. But, on BFRs, the company has yet to commit to their elimination in all products, although a timeline of 2011 has been set for getting BFRs out of notebooks and mobiles.

HCL has called for a Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) by committing to phase-out the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Brominated Fire Retardants (BFR) in all its products by from 2009 and 2010 respectively. The company has been adopting environmental friendly measures under the ‘HCL eSafe’ policy.

Philips announced that by 2012, it aims for 30% of total revenues to come from Green Products, compared with 15% of group sales in 2006. This commitment is part of Philips’ latest EcoVision program that focuses on reducing the energy consumption of its products and facilities. Philips CEO Gerard Kleisterlee says, “Every one of us should contribute to saving our planet.” Philips’ fourth EcoVision program aims to increase the energy efficiency of its operations by 25% and double its investment in green innovations to EUR 1 billion in the next five years. Furthermore, the company is calling on its employees to be environmentally aware on a day-to-day basis in their working environment.