Philips 2008 Annual Report Download - page 40

Product stewardship
With a deep understanding that our influence on
the environmental performance of our products
does not end at the time of sale, we are committed
to continuously improve their ecological impact
throughout their lifespan. We believe that this also
will make our products truly better, creating value
for people, the planet and the company.
Cradle to Cradle
Our engineers, marketers and designers are inspired
by the concept of Cradle to Cradle. This paradigm
encourages a mindset shift from ‘being less bad’ to
‘doing good’ for the environment. It sets a vision of a
world based on renewable energy, full of materials
continually recycled and applied with safety and
health in mind.
For Philips, the ongoing exploration of Cradle to
Cradle means the search for innovative products,
processes and services that use materials and energy
effectively. Eight project teams from Consumer
Lifestyle have conducted feasibility studies, and
pilots are now in progress.
We featured the Circle of Life at our Simplicity
Day Event in Moscow. This concept for delivering
responsible goods invites people to co-create and
make choices based on the entire chain of the
product’s life, including the phases before purchase
and after disposal.
We are committed to manage our
collection and recycling initiatives to
continuously advance in this area.
Collection and recycling
Society increasingly expects companies to take
action for products at their end-of-life. In areas
where regulation is in place, such as Europe or the
United States, people look to companies to step up
their efforts to increase collection ratios. Similar
expectations are surfacing in countries where
legislation is still in development.
To do just that, we are working to:
minimize environmental impact through EcoDesign •
of our products, which includes design for recycling
support the development of legislation to create •
a level playing field, also enabling collection and
recycling of old products whose brand has disappeared
from the market
drive expansion of collection and recycling services, •
for example by starting up voluntary activities in
India and Brazil in 2008
drive the development of environmentally friendly •
recycling systems and technologies with sufficient
economies of scale
support the education of consumers on the •
subject
of collection and recycling, and communicating
clearly
and consistently to all stakeholders.
Chemical content of products
The European REACH legislation is concerned
with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and
Restriction of Chemical substances. Underpinned by
the precautionary principle, the aim of REACH is to
further improve the protection of human health and
the environment through the better and earlier
identification of certain chemical substances.
To ensure compliance and no interruption in the
supply flow, we have asked our chemicals suppliers
to pre-register chemicals supplied to us. The limited
number of chemicals that we produce ourselves have
been pre-registered with the European Chemicals
Agency (ECHA). Additionally, we have requested
information on relevant chemicals from our
component or finished products suppliers.
Closing the loop
Collection and recycling
Philips Annual Report 200840
18
We care about...
8
Message from
the President
6
Performance highlights
14
Who we are
42
Our group performance