jen@environmentalleader.com
The Consumer Electronics Association has released what it says is the first industry-wide consumer electronics environmental sustainability report, Environmental Sustainability and Innovation in the Consumer Electronics Industry. The report covers the sustainable practices chain from the internal processes of the CE companies to manufactured end products.
Here are some of the highlights:
- Among companies that reported reduced electricity consumption, electricity usage declined by as much as 25 percent during the past three to four years.
- Among the major CE companies that reported greenhouse gas emissions from 2004-2007, seven of the 10 have achieved a reduction per one million dollars revenue.
- Among 64 electronics companies surveyed, more than two-thirds — 69 percent — report that they are actively recycling electronic products and components, and 38 percent report reuse of the electronics products they make or use. Together, these actions have helped to recycle nearly 800,000 tons of electronic waste.
- The widespread shift from CRT to LCD monitors that occurred earlier this decade reduced average energy use per monitor by about 30 percent.