Efytimes, February 13, 2008

NOKIA PAYS HEED TO GREENPEACE

[Rachel's introduction: In the latest Greenpeace report Nokia has lost its leadership. But it has also been praised for it embrace of the precautionary principle, its chemicals management, its timeline for phaseout of vinyl and brominated flame retardants, and its individual producer responsibility.]

By Prasoon Srivastava

Reacting to the news Nokia Caught Red-Handed In Green Fight -- which claimed Nokia representatives in the Philippines, Thailand, Argentina, Russia and India were not informed about their companies' own programmes and, in many cases, provided misleading information -- Nokia has sworn to make these corrections in the shortest possible time.

In its comment sent to EFY News, the company highlighted its achievement in the Greenpeace ranking guide as responsible producer but also accepted the gap detected by Greenpeace in its takeback and recycling programme.

"Nokia takes environmental issues seriously and in today's rankings, Greenpeace gives us top marks for acknowledging our responsibility as a producer. However, they have also identified some gaps in our takeback and recycling programme, and we plan to take immediate action in these areas," said an official spokesperson from Nokia.

Nokia in the last issue of Greenpeace International 'Guide to Greener Electronics' achieved top position in the list of green companies. In the latest Greenpeace report, however, Nokia has lost its leadership. But it has also been praised for it precautionary principle, chemicals management, timeline for PVC (Poly vinyl chloride) and BFR phaseout and individual producer responsibility.

Nokia said the company has collection points for used mobiles and accessories in 85 countries across the world. The spokesperson acknowledged that Greenpeace contacted some of these collection points and identified gaps in the service and information available.

"This is valuable feedback, and we will conduct our own audit to assess standards. We are committed to ensuring that our staff in Nokia service centres is properly trained on this issue and that information is easily available for consumers," said Nokia spokesperson.

Greenpeace has welcomed the response from Nokia and demanded that it implements its policy in a user-friendly manner.

"Nokia should not only improve their policy but also implement their programme in easy and practical manner for users. We also expect Nokia to support extended producer responsibility in India," said Ramapati Kumar, toxics campaigner, Greenpeace India.

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