Computer graveyard leaving toxic legacy says Environment Victoria

Consumers should boycott Toshiba and Apple computers and instead buy more environmentally-friendly products such as Dell and HP, a major report card on Australia’s PC companies has found.

The inaugural report card, the first of its kind in Australia, ranked six of the country’s largest computer brands on environmental standards such as design of toxic-free products and whether the company had a take-back scheme for obsolete products.

While no computer company had an excellent environmental performance, Dell, which takes back products, was ranked highest, while Toshiba was the lowest, failing on most scores.

Environment Victoria’s Zero Waste Campaigner Jenny Henty said: ‘For the first time in Australia this report card sends a clear message to consumers that when they’re shopping around for a computer they can buy or lease an environmentally better product.’