2009 TV Companies Report Card

Overview: Improvements in many existing programs, but many companies still doing nothing

Is the TV industry embracing recycling?

June 2009: This is our second TV Takeback Report Card, with the first being published in November 2008. Two years ago, no TV company had a national takeback and recycling program, the digital conversion was fast approaching and the TV companies were busy lobbying against state recycling laws. Now, we have six TV manufacturers and two retailers with national takeback programs, a significant improvement in only two years. But we also still have 10 companies earning F’s, including the #2 seller – Vizio – because they have no takeback programs of any kind.

• Download the New Report (pdf)
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• Explanation of Grading
• Chart Showing the Number of Collection Sites for Each Company
• View Last Year's Report

Click on the company name to download an individual report card on the company (pdf).

FINAL GRADE	MANUFACTURER / RETAILER		DESCRIPTION
	None		No TV companies earned A's for their recycling programs.
	Sony (61 pts)   Samsung (61 pts)		Sony was the first TV company to launch a national takeback program.  They are in the same position as in November. But Samsung rose from a C (45 pts) to a B minus.
	Best Buy (56 pts) Walmart (56 pts)		Best Buy went beyond just taking back their own brand, and launched a national takeback program to accept all brands of TVs at all stores. Walmart uses the Samsung program, so changes in Walmart's score reflect mostly improvements in Samsung's program. Now that retailers are doing more to promote recycling, we will need to do a slightly different grading system (starting with the next report card) to fairly reflect these growing efforts.
	LG (46 pts) Panasonic (40 pts) Sharp (41 pts) Toshiba (39 pts)		Panasonic, Sharp, and Toshiba moved up from D grades in November to C’s this time.
	None		All the companies earning D’s last November have moved up to C’s for June 2009.
	Funai Hitachi JVC Mitsubishi Philips	Sanyo Target Thomson Vizio Westinghouse	These companies have no voluntary takeback programs at all.  All earned F’s last November and none of them have made any progress since then.

Timeline for TV Takeback

• Sony was the first TV manufacturer to launch a national program, in September 2007.


• LG and Samsung followed with programs in summer of 2008.


• Panasonic/Sharp/Toshiba expanded their operations into a national program in Feb 2009.


• Retailers: We are also grading the three largest electronics retailers of TVs on their efforts to take back their house brands. Best Buy took a huge step in offering takeback at all its stores in February 2009, including any brand of TV up to 32 inches, for a $10 fee. (This goes beyond just their responsibility for their brand, so it’s a significant contribution by this national retail chain.) Walmart joined the Samsung program for its house brands in November 2008, so improvements in Walmart's score are due mainly to improvements in the Samsung program. Target has no takeback program at all.
  
  We recognize that we need to alter the reporting criteria somewhat (starting with the next report card) to fairly compare the efforts being made by retailers.

All new programs

Since these programs are all still fairly new, the grades reflect that this industry is just getting started with its takeback and recycling efforts. (We graded on a curve.) While some manufacturers do have national programs, none of them has a robust network of collection sites. Many have just a few sites to serve an entire state – far from adequate to make this convenient for consumers.

Companies do more in states with laws requiring recycling

With this report card, we have added a chart showing the number of collection sites in each state for each company. We indicate which states have laws in effect mandating recycling. It’s very clear that states with strong laws including TV takeback have a lot more collection sites. States with no law or a weak law have far fewer sites.

Almost no transparency or reporting

We are seeing a bit more transparency about what these programs are actually doing than we did last fall. But we are seeing little reporting on goals for how much to collect and volumes collected. We expect companies to report on how much they are collecting (in state mandated and voluntary programs) and how that compares to sales. We want to see the companies establish public collection goals.

How we graded

Grading was based on information available on their websites as of June 1, 2009. For a list of the grading criteria and explanations, see our Explanation of Grading. We will periodically update this grading.