Two Indian companies Wipro and HCL have emerged amongst the top five greenest electronics companies in the world. While Wipro shares the top position with Nokia, HCL at third position is marginally behind Sony Ericsson, according to Greenpeaces just released Guide to Greener Electronics. The NGO rates leading electronic brands on a wide range of chemical, e-waste and new energy criteria.
Wipro is tied with Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia at a score of 7.5 out of 10, up from 6.9 last September. Rajesh Nag, general manager (Business Operations), Wipro Infotech (Systems and Technology), says, “Wipro takes pride in being a responsible IT organisation and actively participating in the green journey. The core mission of Wipro green computing is to work towards clean and sustainable IT products and solutions, which help customers achieve high productivity in energy, space and asset management through the lifecycle.”
Wipro has moved up account of its performance on the chemical criterion and for using recycled plastic. Besides, the companys recently launched Greenware range of desktops are not only 100% recyclable, but also toxin-free. The Greenware range has a share of 13 % of the companys total hardware output.
While Swedish mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson is at the second position with a score of 6.9, HCL follows closely at 6.7 points, going up from 6.1 on the back of its improved performance on the chemicals and energy criteria. Besides, HCL has set a target of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction of 20% by 2014 on a baseline of 2007-08. HCL has scope to improve its score by using renewable energy. “Today sustainability has to be acknowledged as a pivotal point in any organisations growth. It gives us great joy to receive such a recognition,” said a spokesperson from HCL.
Talking about the trend, Vinnie Mehta, executive director, Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT), says, “The mood of the moment is green. Indian companies are getting greener because of their increased awareness about the business case of going green.” Such products may be costlier upfront, but they turn out to be cheaper in the longer run. Greenpeaces Guide to Greener Electronics aims to get the electronics sector shoulder the responsibility for the full life cycle of their products. “Apart from ranking criteria on toxic chemicals and e-waste, the NGO has recently started factoring in the energy criterion in its ranking,” says Abhishek Pratap, campaigner, Greenpeace India.
Saying that the two Indian companies have done very well, he adds, The presence of two Indian companies in the top five of greener electronic companies in the world shows that Indian companies are ready to take a leadership role and will compete with best in class in cleaning their supply chain and greening their products.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 26 May 2010