According to a report in the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, the nearly 20 activists who were targeting the company’s iPods in particular claimed that Apple’s recycling policies lag behind those of Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
Organizers told the paper that they have planned a larger rally today, Jan. 11, at San Francisco’s Moscone Center where Apple will celebrate the success its iPod digital music players at the annual Macworld Expo.
Apple has recently joined eBay’s “Rethink Initiative,” which promotes electronics recycling and provides consumers with information on disposal options, and the company also offers a computer take-back program on its on Web site at www.apple.com/environment/recycling for a charge of $30. Apple began this program in 2001 and says it has recycled more than 90 percent (by weight) of all the electronic equipment it has collected from its customers.
Since October 2002, Apple has partnered with the city of Cupertino to develop an electronics recycling program in which the city’s residents can return their used or unwanted computer systems and selected home electronics, regardless of the manufacturer, to Apple’s Cupertino recycling collection facility at no charge.
At yesterday’s protest, Ted Smith, executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), San Jose, Calif., and Robin Schneider, director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment, dropped off a letter addressed to Apple’s Chief Executive Steve Jobs informing him that the Computer Take-Back Campaign has selected Apple at its “2005 corporate target,” according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The Computer Take Back Campaign says it’s targeting Apple because the company has done poorly on the SVTC’s annual report cards evaluating its design of toxic-free products and its recycling of obsolete products. The campaign also alleges that Apple does much better in Japan and Europe by offering free computer recycling programs and that the company has opposed practical legislation in Maine and Minnesota to reduce electronic waste and protect the health of residents and the environment.