Printing matters

How can we stop computer peripherals from just adding to the e-waste problem? Jane Turner looks at the options

This report covers the main brands of scanners. Many of the companies featured also produce fax machines.

Nowadays, largely as a result of campaigning by development and human rights organisations, many people make a connection between the clothes they buy and the workers who make them. Consumers have some idea of the long hours of toil and discomfort behind the labels 'Made in Bangladesh' or 'Made in China'. The working conditions of the people who make computers and their components are not yet so well known, but they are in many respects similar.(5) NGO campaigns are now beginning to gain momentum and press attention for working conditions in the electronics industry.

Labour standards
Nowadays, largely as a result of campaigning by development and human rights organisations, many people make a connection between the clothes they buy and the workers who make them. Consumers have some idea of the long hours of toil and discomfort behind the labels 'Made in Bangladesh' or 'Made in China'. The working conditions of the people who make computers and their components are not yet so well known, but they are in many respects similar.(5) NGO campaigns are now beginning to gain momentum and press attention for working conditions in the electronics industry.

As in other sectors, all major IT companies are increasingly outsourcing production to contract manufacturers in markets with lower labour costs. South-east Asian countries, including China, Malaysia and the Philippines, have become major producers of electronic products. In 2003, electronic and electrical products accounted for 60% of total exports from the Philippines and for two-thirds of exports from Singapore. They are also the highest value export from Malaysia. There has been considerable investment in Mexico by multinational companies to facilitate entry into the US and Canadian markets. The IT sector uses toxic chemicals in manufacturing processes which, without proper management, can have a significant impact on the local environment and harm worker health and safety.(4)

The Code of Conduct category
Most campaigners agree that the best way to drive improvements in workers' rights is to encourage the development of Codes of Conduct which address workers' rights at supplier companies.

Of the companies in this report, virtually all of them receive the bottom rating for Code of Conduct. In the majority of cases, either there was no evidence that the company had a code or it did not respond to our request for a copy of it. Only two companies out of the twenty in this report - BT and Hewlett Packard - had a code and only BT's has been independently verified. Philips did not have a code but said it had plans to develop one.

Clean up your computer
In January 2004, The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) launched a campaign on poor labour practices in electronics factories in countries such as Mexico, Thailand and China, whose customers include multinational computer manufacturers. CAFOD's research alleges a range of employment practices that contravene internationally-recognised standards, including "humiliating strip searches, routine pregnancy testing and employment terms that undermine workers' rights".(4)

The 'Clean Up Your Computer' report focussed on the three biggest computer companies - Dell and IBM (which are not in this report) and Hewlett Packard - and compared their Codes of Conduct. It found Hewlett Packard's code to be superior to the other two but generally found that the companies' responses to this problem were inadequate for the following reasons: o the codes emphasise compliance with local laws rather than adherence to international labour standards o none of the codes provides unequivocally for freedom of association(5) For a copy of the full report, go to
www.cafod.org.uk/policypapers

A recent study by a European investment manager, ISIS, looked at twelve IT companies and assessed their performance on labour standards and environmental management. It looked at issues such as policy development, monitoring and disclosure. The report found that there were shortcomings in all areas but especially in relation to labour standards. The better performance in environmental management could be explained by increasing regulatory requirements, such as the WEEE EU Directive. It may also be because financial savings can be made by the company from, for example, more efficient resource consumption and energy saving in the manufacturing process.(4) Labour standards are a newer issue for companies. These findings are borne out by our own research for the Code of Conduct and Environmental Reporting categories.

The Environmental Reporting category Only four of the twenty companies in this report - BT, Seiko Epson, Philips and Ricoh - receive the top rating in our Environmental Reporting category. Six get the middle rating because their reports are not independently verified. Four get the bottom rating for producing an Environment Report without performance targets or independent verification. Six more get the bottom rating because they don't appear to have a report at all.

Computer TakeBack Campaign The Computer Take Back Campaign (CTBC), a US-based organisation affiliated to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, publishes an annual 'Report Card' grading companies on the environmental quality of their equipment and their overall environmental performances.

Companies are rated by CTBC in four categories: extended producer responsibility (sustainable product design and takeback/recycling programmes), use of hazardous materials, worker health and safety and degree of accessibility of information.

The CTBC then grades each company as 'passing', 'needs improvement', 'poor' or 'failing', according to its score out of a total of 68. The following are the results of the 2002 Report Card (the latest available) for companies covered in this report:

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has also published reports on the export of electronic waste ("e-waste") to developing countries. Whereas under the Basel Convention the export of e-waste from Europe to developing countries is prohibited, much of America's e-waste is exported for 'recycling' to south-east Asia, particularly China. Lax enforcement of environmental laws and workers' exposure to high levels of toxic materials, as well as dumping of e-waste, have prompted a number of stakeholders to object on environmental and health grounds.(4)

Scanners
Scanners enable you to digitalise photos, slides, negatives, drawings or text (using optical character recognition). You can then edit the image for printing or emailing. Most of the scanners on the market are flatbed models which allow you to scan from magazines and books. Sheet fed models are often found in all-in-one machines. Scanners do not require any consumables.

Reliability Which? did a survey in 2002 of its readers and found that Hewlett Packard scored 'above average' on reliability whilst Canon, Epson and Lexmark scored 'average'.(2)

Recycling machines
The EU Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), currently being transposed into UK law, will require companies that manufacture electrical appliances or sell own-brand appliances to foot the bill for the refurbishment, recycling and recovery of those products that are collected for recycling.(7)

By 13 August 2005, local authorities must have set up collection or take-back schemes which allow users to return their waste products free of charge. Producers need to have financed these collection and disposal routes. The directive was intended to make distributors take back like for like products when a user is buying a new product - a straight swap if you like; however a caveat has been added to the legislative text that gives the producers an opt-out clause, so it remains to be seen how many provide this option.(8)

Different recycling/reuse and recovery targets must be met for various categories of appliances by 31 December 2006. For example, 75% of IT, telecommunications and consumer equipment must be recovered and 65% recycled or reused. (7)

Until then, Waste Watch advises that redundant machines should be reused. In addition to traditional second-hand outlets, there are a number of schemes looking at ways of passing on electronic equipment no longer required to other users. By this means, the life of products can be extended - a more environmentally desirable option than recycling (assuming the product is working efficiently). After reuse, the next best option is refurbishment and lastly recycling - breaking it down into its constituent parts and removing harmful and toxic elements. Check out Waste Watch for a list of UK IT refurbishers and recyclers.

References

1 ENDS Report, March 2003
2 www.tcodevelopment.com Printers criteria pdf, 29/11/99
3 http://www.blauer-engel.de/englisch/navigation/body_blauer_engel.htm
4 ENDS Report, January 2000
5 ENDS Report, November 2003, 346
6 Ecolabelling of Copying Machines, Printers, Fax Machines and Multifunctional Devices - Criteria document, Nordic Ecolabelling (September 2002)
7 ENDS Report, February 2004
8 Wasteline, Electrical and Electronic Equipment Information sheet September 2003
9 Friends of the Earth press release, 'KILLER CHIP' THREAT TO REFILL PRINTERS', Feb 10 2004
10 Wasteline, Recycling toner cartridges Information sheet, January 2002
11 www.refilltoner.com, March 2004
12 The Green Office Manual - Wastebusters Ltd, 2000
13 www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/