Will The iPhone Get Hit By Green Attack?

There’s a growing discussion about the eco-impact that Apple is creating. This has been led by Greenpeace with a campaign they’ve been running called ‘Green My Apple’. Jennifer over at Inhabitat explains the issues well here:

Greenpeace launched their Green My Apple Campaign in September of 2006, with the claim that Apple products contain unsafe levels of PVC and BFR, toxins known to release carcinogenic dioxins when incinerated. While other companies have responded to Greenpeace’s demand for total transparency in chemical policy reporting, Apple has remained opaque.

In response to Greenpeace’s latest low rating of Apple in its Guide to Green Electronics, Apple spokesperson Sherly Seitz responded: “Apple has a strong environmental track record and has led the industry in restricting and banning toxic substances such as mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, as well as many BFRs,” or brominated flame retardants.

But Apple’s does not publish information about which BFRs remain in their products, or a plan for phasing out PVCs. Which means, they no longer lead the industry, since other manufacturers have set timelines or have phased out these toxins completely. Why does Apple remain silent about its specific environmental plans? Since Apple won’t tell us why, we can only speculate.

While Apple don’t seem to be handling the green criticism well right now, we wonder how they might handle it when it gets shouted about when they launch their new baby - the iPhone? How green is this new phone and the energy used to charge it?

It’s not just the toxins issue they need to worry about. There seems to be a global emotional shift towards a world of ‘less is more’ - is Apple ready to work in this?

Today, there’s a huge concern about the waste created by the cellphone industry. Cellphone companies are criticized by the turn over of handsets they are sponsoring by marketing to consumers to change their phones frequently. As far as we can see, no-one is building modular phones that can get updated, they’re just building phones to get replaced by a later one.

When the iPhone launched, a lot of people will be dumping their phone for it. Where will their old phones go? And will Apple provide a solution?

Just a thought.