Greenpeace praises Dell for green IT, slams Motorola

Greenpeace has hailed Dell’s decision to use fewer toxic chemicals in its PCs, while naming and shaming other technology firms that have not made similar commitments.

Dell recently promised to phase out brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and plastic polyvinyl chlorine (PVC) by 2009 in a move Greenpeace said is a response to its requests.

“We’ve been asking the big brand names to change policies and go beyond what is required,” said Zeina al-Hajj of Greenpeace. “The industry is going through a big change in attitude.”

Greenpeace said firms including HP, LGE, Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Sony Ericsson have said they will eliminate the use of some hazardous chemicals in the wake of Greenpeace campaigning. However, it noted that companies including Acer, Apple, Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM, Lenovo, Panasonic, Siemens and Toshiba have not yet made commitments.

Greenpeace singled out Motorola as “the only one of the top five mobile manufacturers which has failed to commit to removing toxic components”. Motorola had also been guilty of “backtracking on earlier commitments”, it said.

The environmental campaigner praised Dell and highlighted the results of a survey by Ipsos-Mori that suggest most PC buyers are willing to pay more for an environmentally-friendly PC.

In nine countries surveyed, German buyers were willing to pay the smallest premium (£32) while, perhaps surprisingly, Chinese buyers would pay the highest, at £108. Britons said they would pay £75 more for a green PC.

“China was a big surprise for us,” said al-Hajj. “Our reading is that it’s easier to see the problem in China where there are some of the most horrific [electronics disposal] sites.”

The poll also found that respondents felt that responsibility should fall on the maker rather than users, distribution outlets or governments.