Every few months, Greenpeace produces the Guide To Greener Electronics report, which ranks large electronics manufacturers on how eco-friendly their operations are. In May, Sony came out on top of the other two major console manufacturers, and the company has repeated that once again this time around.
This time, Sony remained at their overall position compared to May, in a three-way tie for sixth place. Their grade received was 5.1/10, a .2 rise from May 2010. Greenpeace stated in their documentation (you can download the PDF here):
“Sony does relatively well on chemicals, with its score boosted by having models on the market that are partially free of PVC and BFRs, including all models of the VAIO PC, and many models of video recorder, Walkman, camcorder and digital camera. However, to keep these points it needs to show more progress in bringing new products that are free from these hazardous substances onto the market. It still needs to set a timeline for eliminating all phthalates, beryllium copper and antimony and its compounds. Sony has yet to show support for bans on PVC vinyl plastic and brominated/chlorinated flame retardants (BFRs/CFRs) during the revision of the EU’s RoHS Directive (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in electronics)“
Nintendo and Microsoft, however, did not fair as well. They rounded out the bottom of the pack, in fact, with Microsoft dropping a position since May to 17th and a score of 1.9, and Nintendo remaining dead last with a score of 1.8. Microsoft apparently “[backtracked] on its commitment to phase out BFRs and PVC by the end of 2010,” while Nintendo “continues to score zero on all e-waste criteria” and has not been able to lower its greenhouse gas emissions. It sounds like Sony could add “PlayStation: It Only Does Green” to their marketing.
