Wipro tops latest Greenpeace guide
Greenpeace has re-launched its guide to greener electronics with some new criteria for companies, challenging them to reduce carbon emissions and set ambitious goals to utilise renewable energy.
Bangalore/Amsterdam: Greenpeace today released a new and upgraded version of its Guide to Greener Electronics (1) wherein Wipro retains the top slot followed by HCL Infosystem in the Indian version. The international version ranks the IT manufacturing company HP at the top slot, taking the lead over Dell and Nokia in international version.
Three new companies are included in the latest version of the guide. Research in Motion (RIM), manufacturer of Blackberry phone, is included in the international version while Chirag Computers and SAI InfoSystem are included in the Indian version.
While the latest international version of the Guide to Greener Electronics ranks (2) 15 companies across three areas - Energy, Greener Products and Sustainable Operations, it also sets new criteria for companies, challenging them to reduce their carbon footprint across manufacturing, supply chain through to the disposal of their products and to set ambitious goals for the use of renewable energy.
The latest version of the guide also features new criteria for the sourcing of paper, conflict minerals and product life cycle. The Indian version, which is the 11th edition, assesses 4 IT manufacturing companies on the same criteria.
After the successful notification of the e-waste rule, supported by leading Indian and international electronic companies, we are now challenging leading electronic companies to improve their energy sourcing quality and commit to reduce their growing carbon emissions? said Greenpeace India Campaigner Abhishek Pratap.
The Government of India recently notified the-waste (handling and management) Rule, 2011. The rule places liability on individual companies to phase out six hazardous chemicals from its products and establish effective e-waste management practices including financial responsibility for recycling of the discarded products of the company.
Now it is time for all the global electronics companies in India to follow the Indian electronics companies and frame and implement robust policies to streamline e-waste collection and make recycling effective.
HP and Wipro take the top slot due to their strong and visible efforts to curb their own emission while advocating for strong economy-wide climate legislation. It is now time that all the companies included in the guide show strong support for the acceleration of policies which enable a substantial uptake of renewable energy in India? added Pratap.
In the Indian version of the guide, Wipro scores 5.4, closely behind the international version topper HP (5.9) for its strong initiatives on reducing its own carbon emission, establishing effective take-back policies and making its entire product line energy star 5.0 compliant.
HCL which scores 4.3 also performs well compared to other electronic manufacturers (both Indian and international). HCL scores well for its chemical management policy and has become the first Indian company to initiate the process to prevent the use of conflict minerals in products and the measurement and reduction of emissions from its supply chain.
Chirag Computers and Sai Info System, new entrants in the Indian version of the guide perform poorly due to lack of clear policies on their carbon emissions reduction and the absence of any products free from hazardous chemicals. Both the companies need to improve on the reporting and disclosure of their environmental performance.
The Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics has prompted improvements within the electronics industry (3), such as phasing out hazardous substances from their products. The guide is a part of Greenpeace?s wider campaign (4) to persuade the IT industry to find solutions aimed to reduce global emissions. This includes urging Bharti Airtel to power their network operations substantially with electricity sourced from renewable energy.
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
Contacts:
Shashwat Raj, Media Officer, Greenpeace India, +91 968686 1974,
email: shashwat.raj@greenpeace.org
Abhishek Pratap, Campaigner, Greenpeace India, +91 98456 10749,
email: abhishek.pratap@greenpeace.org
The 11th Indian Guide to Greener Electronic is available here: http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/11th%20Indian%20version%20Raking%20Guide.pdf
The 17th international Guide to Greener Electronics is available at www.greenpeace.org/rankingguide
