The Greener Electronics Guide is getting the electronics hardware industry to take responsibility for the life cycle of their products and to make them eco-friendly. The Guide was launched in August 2006 and now it has published its 9th edition. The major role of this guide is to rank the leaders of the mobile companies, computers, TV and games. It ranks the market according to its policies and practices on toxic chemicals, recycling and energy. The guide has been a key driving force in getting many companies to make significant improvements to their environmental policies, and it continues to provoke significant changes within the hardware industry.

An Investigation On Electronics Industry
The latest site where high-tech toxic trash was discovered, causing maximum pollution was in Ghana. The recent investigations disclosed the major companies products being torn apart in almost worst conditions, emitting hazardous toxic chemicals in the surroundings causing maximum disturbance in the life cycle at the alarming stage.

• Philips stands out as the company with the worst position on e-waste and recycling. It ranks 12th with 5.4 points.
• Secondly, is the portable devices industry which are also tremendously growing with waste problems as they continue to upgrade their products every alternate year.

Toxic Free and Safe Green Electronics
The hardware manufacturers have put up their collars and are eliminating the harmful chemicals which are used in the designing of the products.

Lets review few of the cases of the electronics hardware industry and their initiatives for the environment:-
There are no companies who have so far released a computer completely free of brominated flame retardants (BFR) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) but several have recently launched computer hardware products with restricted amounts of toxins like BFRs and PVC, companies like Apple, Dell, Toshiba are going green in the hardware industry and launching products which in itself is a big achievement for the market.

Sony Ericsson is another one that stands tall, as it has banned hazardous chemicals such as antimony, beryllium and Phthalates since the beginning of the year. All of its new models are PVC-free.

Following the footsteps of these companies Sony Ericsson and Nokia, Apple has also announced its new series of iPods that would be free of BFRs, PVC and mercury.

Toshiba is also setting an example for other companies and taking many initiatives to improve the environmental policies.

Save Environment
Reuse and recycling of electronic compoents can save environment up to 2% - 3%. The electronics industry and consumers can specifically take steps to protect and preserve the environment together. Hardware manufacturers need to grab a truly comprehensive approach for the sake of environment and livelihood of the people. Consumers should also choose toxic free product and they should ask for recyclable products.