RIM made its debut in the Greenpaece Guide to Greener Electronics this month, and it’s not a good start. The maker of BlackBerry is dead last among other electronics manufacturers, including LG, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, and Apple. RIM gets a beating in the ratings for not providing external verification of its greenhouse gas emission reduction, nor setting any renewable energy targets for the future. RIM apparently works with trade associations that oppose stringent energy efficiency standards in products, though RIM does avoid using conflict minerals in production, and gets some points for having a device recycling program in place. HP topped the list, followed by Nokia, Apple, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung.
By the looks of things, RIM could score higher in future report cards simply by disclosing more of what it’s doing in particular fields, but as is, this is yet another PR headache BlackBerry could do without. RIM already has investors breathing down their neck for a BlackBerry that doesn’t look like the same thing they launched three years ago, and they’re still doling out free apps for the massive service outage a few weeks ago – do they really need eco-activists picketing the brand too?
You can read up on RIM’s Greenpeace report card over here, or see how the rest of the manufacturers did here.