Barbara Gengler | June 17, 2008
ENVIRONMENTAL pressure group Greenpeace has slammed the big three games console manufacturers for the amount of toxic materials included in their hardware.
Greenpeace says devices such as the Xbox 360 are part of the waste problem
Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have together sold more than 60 million game consoles, and sales are growing by 14 per cent annually.
Of these three industry giants, environmental pressure group Greenpeace says Microsoft had made a commitment to eliminate the use of chlorinated plastic polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs) and BFRs (brominated flame retardants) from its hardware by 2010.
Sony is also committed to phase out PVCs and certain uses of BFRs by 2010, although only for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and not the PS3.
Nintendo very recently committed to eliminate PVC from its products, but has not given a timeline.
Greenpeace analysed a PlayStation 3, a Wii and an Xbox 360 Elite for its 23-page report, Playing Dirty.
The consoles, purchased in Europe last November, all contained certain toxic or undesirable chemicals, materials such as PVC, beryllium and bromine, indicative of BFRs.
"Brominated flame retardants do not break down easily and build up in the environment," the report says. "Long-term exposure can lead to impaired learning and memory functions."
Greenpeace says it is concerned that there is no safe way to dispose of old consoles and has called on games console makers to introduce return and recycle policies. The report also mentions that after the console is superseded it continues to be a toxic menace by contaminating developing countries, where the outdated consoles are sent.
"Game consoles are often dumped and end up in unsafe and dirty recycling yards in developing countries, where toxic contents harm both the environment and the health of workers," the report says. Greenpeace says the results indicate that, in each case, the manufacturers have reduced, or even avoided, uses of individual hazardous substances in specific components. For example, in the Nintendo Wii, beryllium alloys were not identified in electrical contacts and there was lower use of PVC and phthalates in materials tested.
Sony's PS3 included examples of bromine-free PWBs and Microsoft's Xbox 360 showed lower use of brominated materials in the materials tested.
Greenpeace reports that the study includes as wide a range of components and materials as possible in the various analyses, but the testing was limited in scope to specific samples.
The study finds many similarities between the types and amounts of hazardous chemicals and materials in the components tested from the games consoles and those reported in equivalent materials tested in a related study of laptop computers.
In both studies, the use of brominated materials was found to be widespread and many of the flexible materials tested (wire and cable coatings) contained PVC.
The environmental group has called on all technology firms to take immediate action to eliminate toxic chemicals from products.
Greenpeace says the technology is already available so manufacturers can design out harmful toxics and produce cleaner game consoles.
The organisation emphasises that it is time for not only Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, but all electronics manufacturers, to play fair.
"A greener, cleaner games console is possible," Greenpeace said. "There's no excuse for playing dirty."