ESPOO, Finland—Chalk up another one for Nokia Corp.’s reputation as an environmentally friendly electronics manufacturer. And give Motorola Inc., Nokia’s global rival, credit for an effort to catch up by joining a Nokia-led effort to reduce environmental impacts, a move that comes shortly after a Greenpeace report lambasted Motorola on its environmental practices.
Nokia said it will lead a European Commission pilot project to voluntarily reduce the environmental impacts of mobile device manufacturing, use and disposal. The initiative will coordinate the efforts of mobile vendors, network operators, suppliers, recyclers, consumers and environmental organizations.
Last month Greenpeace gave the Finnish vendor a grudging, passing grade for its enviro-friendly practices. But Motorola received a black eye for allegedly backpedaling on earlier pledges to reduce the use of hazardous substances in its handsets and manufacturing processes, and for what the environmental group said were inadequate efforts to encourage recycling of discarded products.
The new effort allows Nokia to assume the mantle of global leader in environmental efforts in the mobile industry while giving others such as Motorola an opportunity to associate with and learn from a rival recognized for its practices.
In a Newsweek interview earlier this month, Motorola’s Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander said he was “stunned” when he heard the results of the Greenpeace study, but that he was “proud” of Motorola’s environmental record. A company statement on the Greenpeace study said that Motorola’s policy is to “meet or exceed all applicable environmental, health, safety, legal and other requirements in the countries in which we do business.” Motorola said it would review the Greenpeace report and its methodology to “assess what actions may be appropriate.”
Other companies participating in the initiative include Panasonic Mobile Communications, France Telecom/Orange, Vodafone, TeliaSonera AB, Intel, Epson, Spansion and Umicore, with advisors from various European Union environmental organizations.
Members will voluntarily undertake efforts to reduce energy consumption, eliminate certain hazardous materials, increase the number of phones collected for recycling, and provide more environmental information to consumers on products.
