Electronics giants not green enough, says Greenpeace

Electronics giants are failing to realise the importance of being green, according to a quarterly environmental guide by Greenpeace.

The Guide to Greener Electronics ranks leading mobile and PC manufacturers and awards points for policies such as eliminating harmful chemicals from their products.

It also awards points to companies that take recycling responsibility for their products and to those that report on the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collected and recycled.

In its June report, which looked at the environmental qualities of 18 companies, only Sony and Sony Ericsson scored five out of a possible 10 points. Greenpeace said this was because of these companies' efforts to reduce plastic ingredients such as PVC and phthalates in their products.

It said Nokia, which scored 4.8, would have been at the top had it not lost a point for failed recycling in India.

Apple won marks for removing potential hazards from key products, including iPods, iMacs, and the MacBook Air, and for taking mercury out of the MacBook Air and some MacBook Pros.

However, overall it tumbled to 4.1 points from the 6.7 points it earned in March. Greenpeace said this was because of its e-waste policies.

Likewise, Nintendo was on the organisation’s hitlist with a score of 0.8 for failing to phase out toxic chemicals and for neglecting to help customers recycle.

Microsoft only scored marginally higher, with 2.1 for setting goals to eliminate PVC or hazardous flame retardants.