CES 2009: Fuji Rolls Out Greenwashed EnviroMAX Batteries

fuji enviromax batteries photo

CES is rife with greenwashing, and one booth that made it to the miniscule and well hidden “Sustainable Planet” section is Fuji's EnviroMAX batteries. These are anything but eco-friendly and the advertising for them makes me turn green, and not in a good way.

The good thing about them is they don't contain mercury, cadmium or PVC. And, according to their literature, most of the resources used in the manufacturing of them are recycled and reused. Those are two really great things. But unfortunately, the only great things.

They're supposedly “designed for the environment” but they don't use any recycled material (only recyclable), and the person at the booth assured me they can be just tossed into the landfill. I asked if that was because they're somehow biodegradable. She said, “We can't say that, but they will break down over time.” I asked how long. She replied, “About 1,000 years.” She didn't even blink.

I asked if they could be recycled for the PET wrapper, the metals in the casing and so on. She said sure you could, but insisted you don't have to – you can just throw them away. When I looked at her suspiciously, she launched into how the back portion of the packaging is made of recycled paper. Wow...that makes it green then, right?

These batteries are intensely geared to capture the green-minded audience, but if anyone is remotely aware of the problem with batteries, and the problem of throwing anything into a landfill, then they'll recognize that this is not a green product.

More on CES:
CES 2009: Motorola Launches The First Carbon Neutral Cell Phone
Are Green Gadgets Really Greener This Year At CES?
CES 2009: Christopher Knight Helps Kick off Green Plug's First Product
CES 2009: The Greener Gadgets Wild Goose Chase