Apple Computer, dumped in Taizhou, China. ©2007 Stuart Isett/www.isett.com

“We give Apple mixed reviews for today’s statement,” said Robin Schneider, Vice Chair of the Computer TakeBack Campaign, and Executive Director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment. “Steve Jobs has made some significant commitments regarding phasing out toxic materials in Apple products, which we applaud. We are also glad to see that Apple is finally stating public goals and measurements regarding their takeback program. And we would still like to see them expand their takeback program for all their products globally, to agree to stop lobbying against takeback legislation in the states. But we are very troubled by their statements about what happens to their e-waste down the line – it’s not at all clear that they are not allowing their e-waste to be exported to developing countries,” Schneider continued.

Phasing Out Toxic Materials

For the first time, Apple has publicly committed to specific timelines for phasing out certain toxic chemicals from their products. Jobs said Apple will have phased out all Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from all products by 2008. This is more aggressive than Dell, HP, and Lenovo’s commitments to date. Jobs trumpeted Apple’s early switch from CRT monitors (which contain high amounts of lead) to flat screen LCD monitors. While it’s true that LCD monitors have low amounts of lead, they use mercury lamps for their lighting source, and mercury is highly toxic at very small amounts. Jobs’ statement indicates a desire to move from mercury lamps to less toxic LED (light emitting diode) lamps in their monitors and displays, a commonly held goal across much of the industry. (LEDs are used in products with small screens, but so far, the technology doesn’t support bright enough lamps for larger screens.) But Jobs went further in announcing that Apple will release its first Mac with a LED screen sometime this year.

Takeback and Recycling E-Waste

For the first time, Apple announced some metrics and goals for their takeback program’s performance, stating that they collected 13 million pounds of e-waste in 2006, which is 9.5% of the products sold 7 years ago (using the metric that Dell uses), which is similar to the percent collected by Dell and HP. But Apple is projecting an increase in this rate to 20% in 2008, and 30% by 2010, which would surpass the levels projected by Dell or HP. No breakdown was given to indicate whether lightweight iPods collected for recycling comprise a significant amount of the collection weight, comparable to the rate of their sales.

The only expansion of the takeback program in today’s announcement was for iPod recycling. Currently Apple takes back iPods for free at Apple stores in the US. Jobs said free iPod recycling will expand to all Apple stores globally, and to free mail-in recycling in the US. Apple’s announcement did not address other demands by the groups for fixing problems with Apple’s current takeback programs for computers, including making them easier for customers to use. (Free takeback isn’t available to customers buying from Apple resellers, only from Apple directly. Customers need to select the takeback option when they are buying - it’s not retroactive - and they must send back their old equipment in 30 days or the offer expires.) Apple also made no commitment to stop lobbying against producer responsibility bills supported by the environmentalists in various states.

Exporting E-Waste and Prison Labor

While Jobs’ statement on not using prison labor was a welcome announcement, it did not dispel environmentalists’ fears that Apple (or their recyclers) may be exporting e-waste to developing countries for processing.

“Apple’s statement says they aren’t exporting e-waste for ‘disposal’. Well nobody is exporting electronic waste for disposal. To save a buck, massive quantities of e-waste is sent to China, India, or Africa for ‘recycling’ or ‘re-use’ where it ends up being recycled in horrific primitive operations that include riverbank acid stripping, wire-burning, and circuit board cooking, or simply dumped and burned,” said Jim Puckett, Coordinator of the Basel Action Network, a non-profit watchdog of global toxic trade. “Apple’s statement seems deliberately designed as feel-good ‘greenwash’, and makes us really wonder if they even know where their electronic waste goes, or understand that they may well be in perpetuating a violation of international environmental trade law.”

The coalition also questioned the statement that “All e-waste is processed in the U.S.” since there is no smelter in the US that can handle circuit boards in large quantities. Most responsible processors use Canadian or European smelters.

Going Forward

“We hope that with the additional transparency that Steve Jobs has provided that we can engage in an on-going dialog with Apple over how to continually improve their performance in the coming months and years,” said Robin Schneider.

The Computer TakeBack Campaign began pressuring Apple in January 2005 to improve its takeback program, which at that time cost $30 per box for mail-back recycling. Apple announced free iPod recycling in April 2005, and then in June 2006 expanded the program to offer free computer and monitor recycling to customers buying new computers or monitors from Apple directly.

Steve Jobs’ announcement: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/agreenerapple/

For general information on the e-waste issue: http://www.computertakeback.com

The Computer Takeback Campaign is a national coalition of organizations promoting sustainable and responsible practices throughout the high-tech electronics industry, to protect public health and the environment. Steering Committee Organizations are Basel Action Network, Center for Environmental Health, Clean Production Action, Clean Water Action, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and Texas Campaign for the Environment.