Apple Desperately Waiting Samsung to Turn Green

The electronics giant Samsung, ranking ahead of Apple on the Fortune 500 (2015), has been making great efforts in promoting environmental sustainability. According to Bloomberg, Samsung’s environment disclosure score (ranging between 0.1 and 100) has considerably grown since it first disclosed its CO2 emissions, water use and total waste in 2009.

Chart: Samsung’s environment disclosure score from 2008 to 2014

Source: Bloomberg Data Terminal (2016/03/19)

Particularly in the most essential indicator, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, Samsung has shown us a glimpse of a greener future. Samsung discharged less GHG since 2012, roughly 34% lower than the previous year. However, the progress owed to spinoff of the LCD business and merger of Samsung LED in that year (2012 Samsung Electronics Annual Report). Total emissions after 2012, applying the previous calculation, might be higher than reported.

Samsung’s environmental disclosure score exceeded its peer though as shown in the table below. However, the data revealed that Samsung lagged behind when a further breakdown of key environmental metrics are given. Not only were GHG emissions much higher than the industry average, but GHG intensity as a percentage of sales significantly above the industry average. Samsung also underperformed industry peers on energy consumption, water use, and total waste.

Table: Samsung’s 2014 Environmental Performance

One possible explanation for this discrepancy was a remarkably lower level of GHG Scope 3 released by Samsung compared with Apple and the industry average. However, GHG Scope 3 emission remains subject to much interpretation. According to its 2014 report, Samsung had expanded scope 3 product use from eight globally sold products (2010) to all products sold worldwide (parts excluded), which showed Samsung’s greater transparency efforts. Samsung also pledged to broaden its scope of suppliers’s emissions surveyed, which covered 54% in terms of global purchase volume in 2012.

Following Apple’s lead, Samsung, which has far broader product line, has been struggling on PVCs and BFRs phase-out of its entire product line once delayed in 2010. The South Korean electronics giant still has a long road ahead of it to come clean.