Samsung Electronics has overtaken Hewlett Packard as the world’s biggest consumer electronics company by volume with $117.9bn sales in 2009. How does this tie into its environmental performance?

A look at the latest the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics (published Jan 2010) scores Samsung down from 2nd place to joint 7th (tied with Sony and Motorola). It was penalised for:

• backtracking on its commitment to eliminate brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in new models of all products by January 2010 and PVC by end of 2010.

• failing to show support for improvements to the revised EU RoHS Directive (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in electronics)

The guide, ranks companies according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change and is scored on publicly available information.

‘Change everything except your wives and kids’

UNEP e-waste map (2002)

Outside of their own gadgets, the South Korean company largely makes chips and LCD screens for other firms such as Apple, making their economic and environmental performance a broader  issue.

This should be realised as being  the  next stage in innovation and competitiveness for the chaebol which in the early 1990s made great strides by stepping up into the chipmaking and high tech world.

This is a great article from April 1994 looking at the ‘quality push’ across South Korean companies such as Samsung, Daewoo and Hyundai in more detail and pointing to the approach needed for the next surge. The language, scale, leadership and commitment are all familiar to current environmental struggles. Here’s Samsung’s then chairman Lee Kun-hee stepping up to the plate:

Lee insists with almost religious fervor that employees undergo ”mind reformation” to become more creative and global in their outlook. Lee wants to shake off what he calls the Samsung diseases, notably a preoccupation with expanding volume regardless of quality.

Sound like a familiar problem?

Steps to accountability / competitiveness

This Vodafone Dialogues e-waste report is a great example of a company being transparent and getting to grips with the problem. This type of engagement using position papers, rich media, external voices etc should (alongside policy, strategy and industry-wide commitments) be a prerequisite for companies serious about demonstrating that this is a problem and they are taking steps to deal with it.

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