Nintendo Wii
Introduction
The Nintendo Wii is currently known as one of the best-selling games consoles out on the current market. Nintendo have taken consideration to reduce toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials such as PVC and Beryllium in the Wii
1. Although this is helping to improve their impact on the environment, is it really?
Environmental Impact
Nintendo have taken it in their stride to try reducing the amount of hazardous materials/chemicals they use in their products to aid towards to the goal of a greener planet.
PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) was a commonly used material in the production of flexible plastics
2. Currently this material is known to be dangerous for the environment as it is difficult and costly to recycle. Recently there have been new recycling options for PVC such as Vinyloop
3, which is a cost effective method of recycling PVC, however, PVC is not only dangerous for the environment but dangerous for living mammals also, such as ourselves. Therefore Nintendo have removed this material from the majority of parts within in the Wii, and plan to phase out PVC in their products, but have not given a time-line for this as of yet.
Beryllium is a chemical used in electrical contacts. The processing of beryllium alloys, including through recycling processes, can produce dusts and fumes of beryllium and beryllium oxide. This can cause beryllium sensitisation that can lead to chronic beryllium disease (CBD), an incurable debilitating lung disease
1. Nintendo have also not used this product in their product, helping the environment and managing the waste from this chemical.
These are only a couple of materials/chemicals which Nintendo have taken in their stride to remove from their product, but at the same time Nintendo have been noted as one of the worst environmentally friendly electronics producers partially due to levels of energy used, choosing not to purchase renewable energy and other factors
4.
Supply Chain
Nintendo's supply chain has always been in extremely high demand and Nintendo have never been able to keep up with the demand for Wii consoles until recently
5. By adding more supply capacity from the first instance of a noticeable high demand for this product, Nintendo could have achieved accessibility to this product for its consumers by contracting with extra suppliers, rather than just increasing stock production levels. Taking the route of adding more supply capacity would have a better effect on the environment than increasing production levels to increase stock, as the extra contracted suppliers would only be needed in high demand periods such as the holiday seasons, therefore only using extra energy and resources in particular periods when supply demand is high. This principle is the most efficient method which would have the best impact on the environment than the other possible methods.
Design Principles
According to Greenpeace, Nintendo has “no voluntary takeback of products, no information on banned products, no information on how the company communicates with its supply chain..."
6. This does not give confidence to Greenpeace neither to the general public about their products or the way they produce their products. Greenpeace think it to be important for Nintendo to voluntarily take-back products at the end of their lifetime, and take responsibility to the recycling of their products. Currently Nintendo do not support this action, but should take responsibility to recycle and reuse any materials from products at the end of their lifetime. This is just one crucial step Nintendo should be taking to ensure safety for the future of the environment by taking responsibility to recycle their own used products and disposing of un-useable redundant waste in an effective environmentally friendly manor. One design principle to overcome this is to take onboard the European Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
Conclusion
With the two methods I have highlighted, I believe Nintendo would be further on its way to becoming a greener and more environmentally friendly company. Greenpeace this year have not rated Nintendo highly, two subject they picked up on were that Nintendo has "no voluntary takeback of products" and "no information on how the company communicates with its supply chain". These two important subjects can be overcome with the principles I have highlighted.
References
1 Greenpeace. (2008).
Greenpeace Research Laboratories Technical Note 05. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/playing-dirty.pdf
2 Greenpeace.
PVC Products. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/polyvinyl-chloride/pvc-products
3 Vinyloop. (2009).
Vinyloop. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from
http://www.vinyloop.com
4 Greenpeace. (2009).
Nintendo Guide To Greener Electronics. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/nintendo-guide-to-greener-electronics-11.pdf
5 CNET. (2009).
Nintendo Wii supply finally catches up to demand. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from
http://news.cnet.com/nintendo-wii-supply-finally-catches-up-to-demand
6 Gaming Today. (2007).
Greenpeace Says Microsoft and Nintendo Harmful to Environment. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from
http://news.filefront.com/greenpeace-says-microsoft-and-nintendo-harmful-to-environment
