Regulations governing disposal of electronic waste can reduce the world's mountains of recycled devices, says Professor Erica Plambeck. She and her coauthor also find that by encouraging manufacturers to slow the rate of new product introductions, consumers are willing to pay more for devices now on the shelves.
The green revolution was a major focus Wednesday morning, as it has been
throughout CES so far. LG announced that its 2009 HDTVs are being designed to
achieve the newest Energy Star 3.0 rating. The company is rolling out the
"Life's Green 2020" initiative, which will cut greenhouse gas emissions by two
points in the product lifecycle -- in the manufacturing process, where the
company aims to cut emissions by 150 kilotons/year by 2020, and with the
products themselves, for an additional decrease of 30 megatons/year by 2020.
One of the few products to get more than a few sentences of introduction may
be coming to your town soon, but it's not likely you're in the market. The LG
Skycharger, a solar- and wind-powered charging station, can handle up to 104
phones (of various makes, not only LG) in its lockable cubbyholes, dispensing up
to 1.8 kilowatts of power among them. Drop a gadget off and it'll be charged in
about an hour; unused power goes into the station's battery bank in case it gets
both calm and dark.
Who's buying? Think large outdoor venues...or disaster-recovery agencies. The
Skycharger will, according to the company, be making a US tour in 2009. It's the
first of its kind in the nation.
From energy efficiency to toxics used in manufacturing to end-of-life issues,
the road to truly green electronics faces a steep climb. Although most companies
are taking these issues very seriously, it will surely be a slow process.
Every three months, the international environmental group Greenpeace rates
these companies on how well they're doing -- and raises the bar a little higher.
In this, the tenth quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace calls on
manufacturers to up their company-wide commitments to steep and rapid cuts in
overall greenhouse gas emissions.
Nokia maintains its top score in the ranking, earning 6.9 points out of 10
possible for its takeback program and reducing the use of toxic chemicals like
PVC, brominated flame retardants and antimony trioxide.
Rounding out the top four is a three-way tie between Sony Ericsson, Toshiba
and Samsung, all with 5.9 points. Sony earned high marks for its new
environmental warranty for responsible takeback, Toshiba gains ground with its
reporting of and goals toward renewable energy use and emissions reductions, and
Samsung earned praise for reducing toxic chemical use and building
energy-efficient products.