Wipro InfoTech, the hardware arm of Wipro Limited, has launched a new range of eco-friendly Wipro Green ware desktops that comply with the European Union standard on Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) — the information technology industry’s most strictest guidelines on the use of and limits on hazardous substances. These green desktops are manufactured with materials completely free of harmful chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Such eco-friendly products have been designed and manufactured in India for the first time.
As the tech industry churns out newer, faster and smarter products day in and day out, discarded and unused PCs are turning up in landfills as toxic piles. Almost all of the 315 million computers that were discarded from 1997 to 2004 found their place in landfills as 1.2 billion pounds of lead, 2 million pounds of cadmium, 400,000 pounds of mercury, and 1.2 million pounds of hexavalent chromium.
Wipro has introduced 100% recyclable toxin-free Greenware PCs. It took them over two years of committed efforts, 37 overseas suppliers, and a large investment to launch a completely toxin-free PC: The first in India and amongst a few all over the world. These green PCs are based on Intel Core 2 Duo processors and are free from deadly chemicals and carcinogenic materials such as PVC and BFRs. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor family is also designed to provide energy efficient performance, adding to the green footprint of these Wipro products.
The recycling of these eco-friendly PCs ensures reduction of the exposure of these hazardous chemicals to the environment. Wipro states this as a major breakthrough in its eco-friendly production and recycling policy; moreso after its struggle against strict policy framework, technical problems, and difficulty in substituting these deadly chemicals during the manufacturing processes.
The basic technical requirements for the eco-friendly alternatives include minimal impact on design of the products, to meet or exceed flammability requirements and to meet the product’s reliability norms. Wipro claims that it has taken care of these issues and that the alternative materials used in making these computers have been verified according to IPC norms and regulations.
Wipro is producing two lakh computers at their production centre near Pondicherry that includes ten to 20 per cent of green desktops and laptops; scaling up the production up to five times. In some time, we can expect Green ware laptops from Wipro. In the forthcoming years, Wipro will switch all of its computer production to this green process.