Trillium Asset Management Congratulates Apple on Moving into the Environmental Leader’s Circle

Boston, MA (May 3) – Trillium Asset Management, filer of a shareholder resolution pending on the May 10 proxy at Apple, Inc., today applauds Apple and CEO Steve Jobs on their newly disclosed commitments to using environmentally safer materials in Apple products. Trillium announced that it is withdrawing the resolution, which requested a corporate report on safer materials policies from consideration at Apple’s shareholder meeting.
The Trillium shareholder resolution appearing on the Apple proxy asks the Apple Board of Directors to publish a report on the feasibility of “adopting a policy of becoming a leader in the use of safe materials, by eliminating persistent and bioaccumulative toxic chemicals, and all types of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, in all Apple products, including an expeditious timetable to end the use of all BFRs and PVC.”
Said Shelley Alpern, Vice President of Trillium Asset Management, “With Apple’s new commitment to eliminate PVC and BFR’s in all products in 2008, the company has taken its rightful place in the environmental leaders’ circle.” By contrast, Dell has announced that it plans to eliminate these two chemicals by 2009. “With Apple’s announced plan to eliminate BFR’s and PVC in 2008 they have addressed the most specific issue raised by our resolution. Now, we’re looking forward to seeing Apple move from aspiration to implementation, as its new, less toxic products enter the marketplace over the next year.”
“Apple’s announcement makes its chemical policies far more transparent,” added Sanford Lewis, attorney and author of the resolution. “This is great news for the environment and for Apple computer users,” said Lewis. “As a longtime Apple user myself, I’m looking forward to obtaining a greener Apple just as soon as they’re available.”
Lewis noted that the company’s next frontiers will be to reinforce the steps announced May 2 with a “commitment to eliminate all persistent and bioaccumulative toxic chemicals” and to adoption of the “precautionary principle” as an operative principle of design, thereby cementing Apple’s leadership role.
Trillium Asset Management is a member of the Investor Environmental Health Network, a group of financial managers and advisors who are actively monitoring the risks and opportunities posed by toxic chemicals in products of their portfolio companies. The withdrawal of the resolution due to successful completion of dialogue with Apple follows several other successes by IEHN at other companies. Resolutions were filed and later withdrawn at Mohawk Carpets (on PFOA and PVC), CVS and Johnson & Johnson (on safer cosmetics), Conagra (on PFOA), Sears (on PVC), and Whole Foods (on Bisphenol-A and other hormone disrupting substances). Shareholder and business efforts to address these safer materials issues are described in documents and reports at iehn.org and in a recently released 20 minute video online at http://video.investorenvironmentalhealthnetwork.org.
While the safer materials resolution continues to appear on the proxy ballot, Trillium will not present the resolution in the May 10 shareholder meeting.