Greenpeace has said that a mass recall of faulty batteries used in Apple and Dell notebook PCs is the first big test to see if manufacturers can comply with new environmental legislation.

The environmental watchdog recently judged the electronic waste policies and the use of toxic chemicals in the equipment of the major technology manufacturers.

It said only Dell and Nokia passed and then only scraped a barely respectable score. Apple, Motorola and Lenovo were slammed for not doing enough.

The current problem for Apple and Dell arose last month ; Apple is having to recall 1.8 million and Dell over four million of the Sony-manufactured lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries which can overheat and pose a fire hazard to consumers.

Therefore Greenpeace sees the battery recall as a critical 'dry run' as the countdown to the forthcoming Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive begins.

It hopes that it will highlight some of the possible problems and firm up producer responsibilities surrounding the handling of WEEE, which can then be ironed out before the directive is enforced in July 2007.

Many batteries are also subject to the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) directive, which came into force on 1 July this year. This restricts the use of six hazardous materials, such as lead and cadmium in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment.

Therefore although less toxic than Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) batteries, these Li-Ion batteries are likely to be disposed of rather than recycled or re-engineered.

Apple has not yet commented on how it will handle the batteries it will have to take back. Dell said in a statement it was "destroying the faulty batteries in an environmentally responsible fashion, with plastics and other recyclable materials reclaimed."

However, Greenpeace said it was still concerned that materials banned by ROHS, such as some brominated flame retardants may be included in these plastics. It would therefore be watching the outcome of this battery recall closely.

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