Philips asked to stop double standards

Mumbai: Greenpeace activists returned electronic waste (e-waste) to Philips' head office here asking the company to immediately stop practicing double standard on take-back of its end-of-life products in India.

With protests in the Netherlands, Denmark, India and Russia, Greenpeace is asking the Dutch electronics giant to introduce uniform voluntary take-back systems.

Philips does not have the practice of voluntary take back of its e-waste in countries like India where there is no mandatory law to this effect.

"We are here to demand that Philips must stop discrimination in its take-back practice and immediately commit to a uniform global system. Being a prominent global player, Philips simply cannot afford to ignore the environmental and health consequences of its end-of-life products in countries where it operates irrespective of such countries not having mandatory law," said Abhishek Pratap, Greenpeace India toxics campaigner.

In a recent opinion poll, 94% of the public in the Netherlands backed Greenpeace's demand that electronics producers should take responsibility for collecting their own-branded e-waste.

At present, most of it ends up in household waste or is exported, often illegally, for dumping or rudimentary recovery in the developing world.

As a first step, Philips should voluntarily set up credible take-back  systems in all countries where its products are sold, and in particular in Russia, India, Argentina and Thailand.

These countries are currently discussing future national e-waste legislation, so now is the ideal time for Philips to take the lead by supporting, through its actions as well as its policies, the principle of individual producer responsibility.

Philips stands out by publicly stating that recycling is a shared financial responsibility for the customer, government and the producer. According to Philips, consumers should pay for recycling by a visible fee.

Philips is lobbying against legislation that would make companies directly responsible for the costs of recycling their own products. As a result, the status quo of toxic product design, which hampers recycling, is maintained.

"Companies such as Sony, Samsung and Nokia have put in place voluntary take-back schemes even in countries where they are not required to do so by law. Philips must have a full, uniform and global programme of taking care of the e-waste generated from its obsolete products, and change from being an environmental laggard to an environmental leader," said Martin Besieux, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner.

Voluntary take-back services will encourage producers to phase out the use of toxic substances in their products at the design stage, thus allowing for safer recyling and reduced end-of-life costs for the companies.

Greenpeace is demanding that all electronics producers take full responsibility for their own-branded e-waste on a global level, ensuring that is properly recycled or disposed of.