Greenpeace “Pities” Nintendo and Gives It Low Marks

A lot of companies are under big pressure to keep their manufacturing process as “green” as possible in order to prevent the increase of pollution and eventually destroy the planet. Among the organizations that militate most gravely against wasteful corporations is Greenpeace, which releases every year a Guide to Greener Electronics, charting important companies on how much they take care of the environment.

For the last few years though, one name has always been in the last place: Nintendo. And not because the Japanese corporation, maker of the hugely successful Wii or DS consoles, is polluting the environment, but because it doesn't collaborate and share documents with Greenpeace. As such, for this year's edition of the aforementioned guide, it still occupies the last spot.

“Nintendo remains in last place with a pitiful 0.8 points out of 10, scoring zero on all e-waste criteria,” says the Greenpeace group. “The company has banned phthalates and is monitoring use of antimony and beryllium, and although it is endeavouring to eliminate the use of PVC, it has not set a timeline for its phase out.”

Its main rivals on the console market, Microsoft and Sony, are in some very good spots in the chart, which is led by Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia. Microsoft ranked a spot over Nintendo, scoring 2.7 out of 10 for “failing to clarify how its recycling data is calculated.” The other Japanese console maker, Sony, has earned a respectable 5.5 points out of the maximum 10, for “externally-verified greenhouse gas emissions for over 200 sites and committing to absolute cuts in GHG emissions.”

Seeing how Nintendo doesn't really care a lot about this report, it seems that the last spot is secured by the Japanese company, which prefers not to share its pollution-preventing measures with anyone else.