Greeenpeace USA have been campaigning IT companies for years - the new guide is the first new one in 5 years and is a pretty thorough analysis of what 17 of the world’s leading consumer electronics companies are doing to address their environmental impacts.Not much, is the short answer.
And that is the elephant in the IT / tech room. Personal tech companies have been and still are very naughty environmentally and are still doing bugger all to clean up their antiquated supply chains and manufacturing processes.ONE OF THE GREATEST IRONY OF TECH IS THAT THERE IS NO OTHER INDUSTRY WITH SUCH A STARK CONTRAST BETWEEN THE BACK & THE FRONT DOOR. GARY COOK, FROM GREENPEACE USA SUMMED IT UP, "TECH COMPANIES CLAIM TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF INNOVATION, BUT THEIR SUPPLY CHAINS ARE STUCK IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE."Here’s how the companies stack up. Not all are in Australia, but the report is still relevant as even .
Greenpeace USA assessed the 17 companies across 3 key areas of ENERGY, RESOURCE CONSUMPTION & CHEMICALS. Within each area, they were then graded on the categories of transparency, performance, commitment and advocacy.According to their research - which is all fairness is pretty comprehensive, Samsung, Amazon, Huawei, Asus and Xiaomi are among the companies with the worst grades. Apple were second highest with a B- and there were no A's. The areas that are letting most of the companies down are lack of renewable energy, no use of recycled materials and an abundance of hazardous chemicals. Samsung Electronics received a D for its minimal use of renewable energy while Apple, who pretty much have their own green energy sources, got an A-.Samsung are the biggest manufacturer of smart phones in the world, both under their own name and as a component supplier to other brands and only 1% of all their energy use comes from renewables.
When it came to transparency, the massively growing Chinese companies Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo wouldn't talk to Greenpeace, let alone actually declare any processes. Amazon really weren't a great deal better - not releasing any data on their energy profile - use or performance of their GHG footprint. On top of antiquated supply chains, and lack of transparency, new age built in redundancy is go to marketing. Tech companies are worse than soda bottlers when it comes to taking (no) responsibility for cleaning up the mess they make. Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung are among the companies with built in short cycle product redundancy and moving in the wrong direction on sustainable product design. And there really is no excuse for it.