Greenpeace forced out of Apple Mac Expo
London, October 26, 2006 -Greenpeace's high profile 'Green my Apple' stall was shut-down today at the start of the Mac
Expo (1) Organisers of the Mac Expo claimed they had received complaints from unnamed sources. The Greenpeace stall was
bought for the three-day expo in an attempt to raise awareness about concerns over the use of toxic chemicals in Apple's
products.
The Greenpeace volunteers manning the stall were signing up Mac fans to challenge Apple to go green. Flyers explaining
the Green my Apple campaign were handed out to members of the public along with organic green apples. The volunteers
have vowed to return to the expo tomorrow to continue the 'Green my Apple' campaign. www.greenmyapple.org
"This reaction is totally over-the-top" said Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International campaigner at the expo. "Apple
refuses to address our criticisms on their products, both for the recycling and for the use of harmful chemicals.
Instead of hiding their head in the sand, Apple should be a world leader in the greening of the electronics industry,
not lagging behind," she continued.
Apple scored 11th place (out of 14) on a 'Guide to Greener Electronics' recently released by Greenpeace, with a poor
showing on almost all criteria. (2) The company fails to embrace the precautionary principle, withholds its full list of
regulated substances, provides no timelines for eliminating toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and no commitment at all to
phasing out all uses of brominated flame retardants (BFRs). (3) The company also performs poorly on product take back
and recycling, with the exception of reporting on the amounts of its electronic waste recycled.
"It's time for Apple to use clean components in all of its products and to provide a free take-back program to reuse and
recycle its products wherever they are sold. We are challenging the world leader in design to also be a world leader in
environmental innovation. We challenge Apple to have a product range on the market by 2007 which is free of the worst
toxic chemicals," she concluded.
ENDS