Environmental issue yet affect sales<\/p>\n
Rudijanto, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Established electronic home appliance producers continue to
\ninvest heavily in media advertisements to tap a bigger part of
\nthe country's growing home appliance market.<\/p>\n
Newspapers, magazines and televisions have become the
\nbattleground for different electronic home appliance companies to
\nwin the heart of Indonesian consumers.<\/p>\n
Look at what Polytron is doing with its aggressive media
\npromotion campaign. It has hired comedian Basuki as a spokesman
\nand is touting its technology and designs, for instance a
\ncombination cool refrigerator and a compartment to keep food
\nwarm.<\/p>\n
Or see LG's media promotion for its new air conditioner Art
\nCool, which shows various choices of esthetically designed
\nproducts. The company is also boosting the promotion for its
\nIcebeam Door Cooling refrigerator, which offers a cooling
\nsolution for fully packed refrigerators.<\/p>\n
Another electronics producer that focuses sharply on health
\nissues in its promotions is Sharp. The company is promoting its
\nplasma cluster technology in its air conditioners and
\nrefrigerators. The plasma cluster promises cleaner and odorless
\nair with the use of the Plasmacluster Ion Generator.<\/p>\n
For those consumers concerned with the environment, there
\nseems to be one aspect that is missing from all of these media
\nadvertisements, namely the environmental aspect. None of the
\nmajor electronic producers have a message that tells customers
\nthat their products are environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n
LG Electronic Indonesia (LGEIN) national sales and marketing
\nmanager Sung Khiun said the company was focusing on benefits for
\nconsumers in its media advertisements, rather than on
\nenvironmentally friendly aspects.<\/p>\n
\"For instance, we know that many houses have refrigerators
\nthat are full. Thus, we offer them our Icebeam Door Cooling
\ntechnology that enables the refrigerators to remain cool although
\nthey are full,\" said Sung Khiun.<\/p>\n
For him, environmentally friendly is not much of a selling
\npoint, at least at the time being, among Indonesian consumers. He
\nhas found that most consumers generally aren't concerned whether
\na product is environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n
\"It is for this reason that we do not advertise the fact that
\nwe received the ISO 14000 in 2000 because consumers will not pay
\nany attention to this achievement,\" said Sun Khiun.<\/p>\n
The sales and marketing director of PT Sharp Yasonta Antarnusa
\n(Sharp), Jino Sugiarto, confirms this observation, saying that
\nmost Indonesian consumers are not yet environmentally aware as
\ncompared to those in Japan.<\/p>\n
\"In Japan, the use of recycled paper for business cards boosts
\nthe company's image because, aside from being environmentally
\nfriendly, its price is more expensive. But here I think the
\nenvironmentally friendly aspect has no selling point due to low
\nawareness of the people,\" Jino said.<\/p>\n
He recalls that Sharp had a difficult time convincing
\nconsumers to shift from CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) refrigerators
\nthe more environmentally friendly non-CFC fridges.<\/p>\n
Polytron factory head AL Purwanto says people are most
\nconcerned with price. With the low awareness of the environment,
\nhe also believes that environmentally friendly aspects are not a
\nselling point yet in the Indonesian market.<\/p>\n
Indeed, electronic producers in the country should be grateful
\nfor the low awareness of Indonesian consumers on the need to
\nprotect the environment.<\/p>\n
Some countries have a serious problem with electronic scraps,
\nwhich have become a serious problem to both health and the
\nenvironment. Some components in electronic products contain
\nhazardous materials, such as lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.<\/p>\n
Certainly there is no immediate danger for consumers to use
\nelectronic products since these toxic materials do not pose
\ndirect risks to them. But they can create environmental problems
\nif they are thrown away with other household garbage.<\/p>\n
The U.S. National Safety Council's Environmental Health Center
\nreleased a report that revealed that consumer electronics
\nconstituted 40 percent of lead found in landfills. The main
\nconcern in regard to the presence of lead in landfills is the
\npotential for the lead to leach and contaminate drinking water
\nsupplies.<\/p>\n
Medical studies have found that lead can cause damage to the
\ncentral and peripheral nervous systems, blood systems and kidneys
\nin humans. Effects on the endocrine system have also been
\nobserved and its negative effects on children's brain development
\nhave been well documented.<\/p>\n
Another hazardous substance found in electronic products is
\nmercury. It is estimated that 22 percent of the yearly world
\nconsumption of mercury is used in electrical and electronic
\nequipment. Mercury is basically used in thermostats, relays and
\nswitches and discharge lamps.<\/p>\n
Those two examples of hazardous substances in electronic
\nproducts should alarm not only environmental activists but also
\nconsumers in general since any careless handling of electronic
\nscraps could affect their health.<\/p>\n
Again, electronic producers in this country are lucky with the
\nalmost complete absence of pressure groups and environmentally
\naware consumers. But since many of them also operate in overseas
\nmarkets, they cannot avoid this pressure completely.<\/p>\n
Sharp, which exports 30 percent of its total production, has
\nmade special efforts to comply with environmental requirements.<\/p>\n
Sharp assistant manager for quality and reliability control
\nBaruno Aji said the company was implementing \"Green Purchases\" to
\nall of its suppliers.<\/p>\n
\"We have started Green Purchases here since early this year.
\nUnder this program, we survey every component that we purchase
\nfrom suppliers in order to know and eliminate or reduce some
\nhazardous substances, including pb (lead), cd (cadmium)
\nbiphenyls) and hg (mercury),\" said Baruno.<\/p>\n
Like Sharp, LGEIN has also stopped the use of PCBs
\n(polychlorinated biphenyls) that are not only dangerous for the
\nenvironment but also to humans. Sung Khiun said that LGEIN had
\nshifted to safer Phenol PCBs in its televisions as well as
\nrefrigerators.<\/p>\n
Polytron's AL Purwanto acknowledges that recycling electronic
\nwaste is a difficult task due to the existence of metal, gas and
\npolymer elements. But as an electronic producer, he said that
\nPolytron was certainly thinking of how to recycle the waste.<\/p>\n
Certainly, manufacturing and selling electronic products is
\neasier than taking the responsibility for recycling or, at least,
\nneutralizing hazardous substances from electronic scraps.<\/p>\n
However, only if the producers take the environmentally
\nfriendly aspect seriously will they have credibility in telling
\nconsumers that their products benefit their customers' health not
\nonly in the short run but also in the long run.<\/p>\n
A simple trade-in program that promises discounts for
\nconsumers who want to purchase new products may help producers to
\ncontrol the recycling and neutralizing of hazardous substances
\nfrom electronic scraps.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, we must give a thumbs-up to most of the
\nproducers, particularly Sharp and LG, that have already acquired
\nISO 14000 and other documents certifying the proven quality and
\nsafety of their products.<\/p>",
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