(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Gov't Formulating Guidelines For Environmentally Friendly PCs
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August 3, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Government offices and private organizations
are working to formulate guidelines for producing environmentally friendly
personal computers.
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The guidelines will focus on avoiding use of toxic substances as well
as utilization of recyclable materials and energy-saving efforts. However,
many of the guidelines are still unclear, and PC manufacturers are striving
to make environmentally friendly products.
A leader in the field is the Green
Purchasing Network (GPN), an organization of about 1,400 companies,
the government and various other groups. On June 15, GPN issued a booklet
called "Environment Data Book for Product Selection (PC version)."
GPN provides criteria for its members to choose and purchase environmentally
friendly products. The guidelines do not have any binding force on PC
makers that do not conform to them nor upon users who have purchased
such PCs. Yet the guidelines are important because they give consumers
relevant criteria for selecting PCs.
The guidelines comprise
five sections; (1) energy-saving efforts, (2) durability for many years
of use, (3) recycling of the PC itself, (4) efforts to reduce use of
substances that pollute the environment, and (5) use of recyclable materials.
Durability is considered as a criteria to reduce the number of discarded
PCs. The above five sections also can be reclassified into three categories:
avoidance of toxic substances, wastes/recycling and energy-saving efforts.
Criteria for Toxic Substances Differ by Maker
As concerns toxic substances that should be avoided, GPN cites polyvinyl
chloride and polybrominated biphenyl as flame retardants and polybrominated
biphenyl oxide.
However, some makers set their own criteria for toxic substances. NEC
Corp., for example, regulates 41 chemical substances including asbestos,
hexavalent chromium mixture and antimony as toxic substances. The company
studied criteria in other countries before setting the guidelines. Fujitsu
Ltd. lists more than 100 chemical substances.
Based on such guidelines, the two firms conducted surveys of parts suppliers
on materials contained in their parts so as to reduce use of toxic substances
in their PC products.
NEC also has developed a flame-resistant plastic called Ecopolyca by
mixing polycarbonate and silicon, and it employs the new material in
its products.
Meanwhile, IBM Japan Ltd. implemented an effort to collect PC components
instead of arguing which material is potentially toxic. "Although GPN
bans the use of polyvinyl chloride, we believe it will be no problem
if we collect and process PCs containing the substance," an IBM official
said.
Thus, each company designates different substances as toxic. GPN designates
only three substances as materials that should be avoided. The issue
of toxic substances, therefore, should be discussed more among the parties
concerned.
Recycling to Start with Recycled Plastic
GPN encourages PC makers to use recycled plastic and other materials
that can easily be recycled. In GPN's booklet, NEC is said to have introduced
the largest number of PC models that utilize recycled plastic, which
consists of 10 percent recycled material (used for about one year) and
90 percent new material.
Hitachi Ltd. also reveals details about its PCs using recycled plastic
in the booklet. The recycled plastic is from cases of its workstations
returned after the expiration of four-year and five-year leases.
Because recycling requires a lot of manual labor, PC manufactures are
trying to cut the number of screws used for PCs or substitute press-in
pins for screws to reduce labor time. Hitachi's Production Engineering
Laboratory is designing a PC box that can be easily disassembled quickly,
using its proprietary simulation software.
Energy-saving Efforts Based on International Energy Star Program
As for energy-saving, GPN's guidelines cite power consumption in actual
use and in the sleep mode, but they do not specify a maximum amount.
When the PC power consumption during the standby mode is in accordance
with the standard set in the International Energy Star Program, the
PCs will be listed in the booklet.
Electric appliance makers are focusing on energy-saving efforts. This
year, Sharp Corp. started a program in which its environmentally friendly,
energy-saving products get an original green sticker. The program covers
all of the firm's products sold in Japan.
PC makers have difficulty in reducing power consumption for the main
body of desktop PCs. An increasing number of desktop models don't pass
the criteria set in the International Energy Star Program. Power consumption
is usually boosted by a high-performance microprocessor and a digital
video disc (DVD) drive.
Sharp is looking at its liquid crystal technology to promote its energy-saving
efforts. The Osaka-based company has developed a reflective color thin
film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) whose electrodes that
drive the TFT are reflective. Because the display does not need back
lighting, power consumption of the display was reduced to about a seventh
that of conventional models. The color LCD display was adopted for Business
Zaurus released in April.
Formulation of Guidelines Has Just Begun
GPN's booklet specifies guidelines to produce environmentally friendly
products. But it also presents some problems. It covers only 11 domestic
PC makers and fails to introduce the latest models because upgrading
of PC models is so frequent.
Environmentally friendly PCs usually cost more than conventional models
because of recycling costs. Also, it is true that some companies place
more importance on cost performance than the environment. However, the
move toward formulating guidelines has just begun, including awareness
of PC users.
Table 1 Guidelines on environmentally
friendly PCs set by
the Green Purchasing Network
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Guidelines on environmentally friendly products
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Criteria shown in the booklet [How to list products in
the booklet]
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Resource saving, energy saving
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(1) The efficiency of energy consumption [ Power
consumption in normal operation (Unit: W)]
(2) Conformity to the International Energy Star Program [
Conformity to the guidelines in the program]
(3) Low-power consumption mode [ Power consumption in the
low-power consumption mode (W)]
(4) Energy saving-related notes [ Sleep switch designed
to suspend operations of a PC, etc.]
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Extending for long hours of use
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(1) The capacity of main memory [Standard and maximum
capacities (MB)]
(2) Vacant slot for additional main memory [ Description
of presence or absence of a slot for additional main memory]
(3) Expansion slot [ Description of presence or absence
of an expansion slot, a PC card slot]
(4) Notes related to durability [ Possibility of using
large-capacity batteries, etc.]
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Recycling
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(1) Recyclable Design [ Whether parts can be disassembled
after usage, and whether compound materials are reduced ]
(2) Use of recycled Plastic [ Whether recycled plastic is
used or not]
(3) Recycling-related notes [ Whether use of materials
for resin parts is indicated as regulated under the
International Standards Organization.
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Environment polluting substance-cutting efforts
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(1) Avoidance of use of specific flame retardant [
Whether PBBS*1 or PBDBOS*2 is used for a main
body, monitors and keyboards of PCs]
(2) Avoidance of use of PVC*3 [Whether PVC is
used for a main body, monitors and keyboards of PCs]
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Use of recycled materials
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(1) Use of recycled paper for manuals [ Whether recycled
paper containing old paper is used for operating instruction
manuals]
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*1PBPS:polybrominated biphenyl *2PBBS:
polybrominated biphenyl oxide*3PVC: polyvinyl chloride
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(Nikkei Byte)
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