US recycling report card

The Electronics TakeBack Coalition's Recycling Report Card evaluates takeback and recycling programs for computer, TV, printer and game console companies. The report card focuses on the programs available to consumers in the US, and relies on publicly available information, as of Sept 2010. This company received a grade of F for its recycling efforts in the USA.

Source: Electronics TakeBack Coalition (2010)

Military involvement

Hitachi provides products and services for the Japanese military.

Source: company website (2021)

Price fixing

In March 2009 Hitachi admitted to fixing prices of the screens sold to Dell for use in desktop monitors and notebook computers from 2001 to 2004, in violation of US anti-trust laws. Three other major producers of LCD panels including LG and Sharp had already admitted their involvement in price-fixing. Hitachi was fined US$31 million. [Listed under information due to age of court finding]

Source: news article (2009)

Price fixing in USA

In 2011 Hitachi-LG Data Storage, a joint venture of Hitachi Ltd and LG Electronics, pleaded guilty to 15 criminal counts in connection with a long-running probe of price fixing in the sale of optical disk drives to computer companies. The charges were brought by US prosecutors in the District Court (Northern California) and the joint venture company was sentenced to a US$21m fine after admitting conspiring with others to eliminate competition or fix prices for drives sold to computer companies dating back to 2004.

Source: The Guardian (2011)

Nuclear - direct involvement

Hitachi and General Electric operate a joint venture which builds nuclear power plants.

Source: company website (2022)

Involvement with Israel

The independent research centre Who Profits has identified this company as complicit in Israel's ongoing occupation of Palestinian and Syrian land. "The company's engineering equipment was used during house demolitions in the Palestinian neighborhoods of At-Tur and Beit Hanina in occupied East Jerusalem and in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al-Sayyid in the Naqab (Negev) desert. The Hitachi model most commonly used during these demolitions was the ZX250LC-5 track excavator."

Source: Who Profits (2024)

Climate action commitments

As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target.

Source: We Mean Business (2021)

63.5% in Newsweek Green Ranking 2017

This company received a score of 63.5/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.

Source: Newsweek (2017)

Sustainability claims

This company has sustainability claims on its website, including environmental and social issues.

Source: company website (2020)

C grade at Behind the Barcode

C grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's Behind the Barcode 'Ethical Electronics Guide 2016', which grades companies on their efforts to mitigate the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation throughout their supply chains. Assessment criteria fall into four main categories: policies, traceability & transparency, monitoring & training and worker rights. [Listed under Information due to age of report]

Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2016)

Modern Slavery statement

California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.

Source: company website (2017)

BHRRC company profile

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.

Source: BHRRC (2022)

41/100 S&P Global ESG Score

This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 41/100 in the Industrial Conglomerates category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 18 Nov 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.

Source: S&P Global (2022)