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TV Recycling Report Card Gives High Marks to Sony, but Flunks JVC, Philips, Vizio and More

by Erika Yost on January 11, 2009

images1 TV Recycling Report Card Gives High Marks to Sony, but Flunks JVC, Philips, Vizio and MoreElectronic waste, or e-waste, dumping in developing countries such as Ghana reflects the worst of our “throw-away” society and our willingness to push our problems off on others. To read more about Ghana, please read this August 2008 article from The Ghanaian Times: ‘Stop Electronic Waste Dumping in Ghana!’

What are companies that produce TVs doing to protect people and planet? In 2001 the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, a national coalition of non-profit groups promoting green design and responsible recycling in the electronics industry, was established to study this and other questions. Take Back My TV is a campaign of the Coalition and in November 2008 the group started issuing a TV Takeback Report Card.

Here are the results on a scale of A through F:

A – None of the companies achieved this grade

B – Sony received a B-. “Sony was the first TV company to launch a national takeback program. They need a lot more collection sites to be convenient in many states, but we applaud Sony for its leadership on TV takeback.”

C – Samsung, LG, Wal-mart “LG and Samsung have national takeback programs. Wal-mart has recently partnered with Samsung to take back Wal-mart’s house branded TVs.”

D – Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba, Best Buy “These manufacturers partner together in recycling under their MRM company. MRM has just started expanding beyond states which require recycling. Best Buy’s rating is for taking back its house brand TVs.”

F – Funai, Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Philips, Thomson, Vizio, Target, Sanyo “These companies have no voluntary takeback programs at all.”

Here is more about this initiative from the Take Back My TV website:

TV Recycling:  A Slow Start With Digital Conversion Fast Approaching

Is the TV Industry Embracing Recycling?

This is our first TV Takeback Report Card. Only a little over a year ago, no TV company had a national takeback and recycling program, and the digital conversion was fast approaching. While most computer companies have been offering takeback for a few years now, the TV companies had no programs, and were busy lobbying against state laws requiring takeback.

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Mining in the Congo for Playstation 2

by John Richardson on July 25, 2008

coltancongo 300x186 Mining in the Congo for Playstation 2John Lasker, writing on the activist Toward Freedom website, reported that a special component of the recently released Playstation 2 from Sony is made from a rare metallic ore found in Congo known as coltan. “Extensive evidence shows that during the war hundreds of millions of dollars worth of coltan was stolen from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The UN and several NGOs claim some of the most active thieves were the Rwandan military, several militias supported by the Rwandan government, and also a number of western-based mining companies, metal brokers, and metal processors that had allegedly partnered with these Rwandan factions.

After it is refined, coltan becomes a bluish-gray powder called tantalum, which is defined as a transition metal. Tantalum is used to make cell phones, laptops and other electronic devices. It was also discovered by the UN that Rwandan troops and rebels were using prisoners-of-war and children to mine for the “black gold” in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms,” said British politician Oona King, who was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2005.”

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