| Apple E Waste Policy Trashed
Larger Protest Planned for MacWorld Expo Today
San Jose Mercury News
January 10, 2005
By Karl Schoenberger
A raucous band of about 20 demonstrators in mock hazardous-material safety suits held a noon-hour vigil Monday outside Apple Computer's Cupertino headquarters, protesting the company's policies on electronic waste recycling, which they claimed are lagging behind personal-computer industry rivals Hewlett-Packard and Dell.
They hoisted placards criticizing Apple, including one reading ``iPod = iWaste.'' A banner depicted an arm tossing an iPod into the trash. Organizers said they planned a larger rally today at San Francisco's Moscone Center, where Apple will be celebrating its phenomenal success with the handheld digital music player at the annual Macworld Expo.
Responding to years of criticism by environmental groups, Apple now offers its customers a fee-based computer take-back program. And last week the company joined eBay's ``Rethink Initiative,'' which promotes e-waste recycling and provides consumers with information on how to dispose of junk electronic goods. But activists say Apple has resisted the concept of producer responsibility for e-waste and lobbied against state e-waste legislation -- despite its progressive reputation.
`It's appalling'
``To me this is all about the idea that a PC maker has got to take responsibility for the poisons they put in their products,'' said Zac Trahan, 24, an activist from Austin whose organization, Texas Campaign for the Environment, put relentless pressure on Dell to stop using prison labor to recycle its take-back computers. ``I think it's appalling that Apple would be against this.''
Company officials, apparently busy with preparations for Macworld, did not return phone calls.
Electronic waste is dangerous to human health and the environment because it contains a wide range of toxic materials, including mercury, lead, cadmium and brominated flame retardant. The lead that leaches out of discarded cathode ray tubes has been a particular concern in California, which has banned computer and television dumping in landfills and enacted a law to provide safe recycling of the materials.
A comparison of consumer recycling programs currently offered by Apple, Dell and HP shows Apple taking up the rear. Its Web site offers recycling by an outside contractor for a flat fee of $30. Dell offers free recycling, but only when a consumer buys a new Dell product. HP will collect any brand of computer for recycling for fees ranging from $13 to $35.
Apple has resisted
Ted Smith, director of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, said Apple has resisted efforts to work with environmental activists across the country to find ``shared responsibility'' solutions for e-waste recycling. Apple and other major producers, he said, have lobbied against state legislation that would place part of the responsibility for e-waste recycling on producers.
``We need to get more big-name companies on our side, and Apple should be a leader, not a laggard,'' Smith said.
Apple was conspicuous in lobbying against a shared-responsibility bill that passed the state Legislature in California and legislation that was signed into law in Maine last year, Smith said.
At Monday's protest at Apple's headquarters, Smith and Robin Schneider, director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment, dropped off a letter addressed to Chief Executive Steve Jobs informing him that the Computer Take-Back Campaign has selected Apple as the ``2005 corporate target.
Apple statement
Apple spells out its recycling policy in a statement on its Web site that says the company ``has long been an advocate of product stewardship, and we believe that this concept extends to the proper disposal of electronic equipment at the end of its useful life.''
But it doesn't say who should pay for the recycling.
To its credit, Apple offers free recycling in a program it operates with the city of Cupertino, its hometown. But only Cupertino residents are qualified to drop off their Apple e-waste at designated collection sites.
Whether or not the criticism is deserved -- or whether activist pressure can change Apple's approach to recycling -- the controversy comes as California is implementing a groundbreaking state government program to deal with e-waste. Beginning Jan. 1, retailers started collecting up-front fees on new purchases to pay for recycling junked TVs and computer monitors.
http://http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/10616391.htm?1c
|
|
|
