Technology news and Jobs 
Fuzzy Logic A Greener Apple a day keeps Greenpeace at bay
Fuzzy Logic A Greener Apple a day keeps Greenpeace at bay | A Greener Apple a day keeps Greenpeace at bay |
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| Written by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Thursday, 03 May 2007 | |
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Given Apple’s legendary ability to communicate about new products and services, communications which generally result in days of worldwide free publicity, it certainly is surprising to realize that Apple’s green image has, until now, been kept in the dark. Given Jobs’ enormous success in getting the DRM message across, there can be no doubt that few will miss Jobs cataloguing and proclamation of Apple’s green credentials now and into the future, especially as Jobs says Apple consumers, employees, shareholders and the industry “want us to be a leader in this area, just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today we’re changing our policy”. Apple have removed lead from CRTs in mid-2006, competitors such as Dell, Gateway, HP and Lenovo are still shipping CRTs with lead inside today. In terms of toxic chemicals, for which there is a ‘RoHS’ (reduction of hazardous substances) policy that most companies say they have adhered to, Jobs says Apple products are fully compliant, while other companies still have certain products that do claim RoHS credentials, but use loop-hopes in EU laws to let some otherwise infringing products slip through the net without penalty, a year after the RoHS deadline went into effect. Jobs goes into detail on arsenic, mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and others, talking about how the use of arsenic will end in 2008, BFRs started being restricted in 2001, the PVC phaseout started 12 years ago, with both PVCs and BFRs to be completely eliminated in 2008, a full year earlier than companies such as Dell and Lenovo. In terms of recycling, Apple says they started their program in 1994, are recycling more than ever today and are projected to be doing better than competitors in 2010. In terms of iPods, Apple says they take back “unwanted iPods for environmentally friendly disposal free of charge”. Jobs says they “even offer customers a 10% discount on a new iPod when they bring their old iPod to our stores for proper disposal”. Jobs starts concluding be saying that: “Today is the first time we have openly discussed our plans to become a greener Apple. It will not be the last. We will be providing updates of our efforts and accomplishments at least annually, most likely around this time of the year. And we plan to bring other environmental issues to the table as well, such as the energy efficiency of the products in our industry. We are also beginning to explore the overall carbon “footprint” of our products, and may have some interesting data and issues to share later this year”. He concludes by saying that: “I hope you are as delighted as I was when I first learned how far along Apple actually is in removing toxic chemicals from its products and recycling its older products. We apologize for leaving you in the dark for this long. Apple is already a leader in innovation and engineering, and we are applying these same talents to become an environmental leader. Based on our tangible actions and results over time, hopefully our customers, employees, shareholders and professional colleagues will all feel proud of our ongoing efforts to become a greener Apple”. {moscomment}
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