Greenpeace raises Apple green rating

Greenpeace has moved Apple out of its doghouse, praising the company for its efforts to remove toxic chemicals and for its recycling programme.

Greenpeace www.vnunet.com of its environmental ranking last April. But now the firm moved ahead of Sony, LG Electronics, Panasonic, and HP to place tenth overall on the 14-company Green Electronics Guide ranking.

Nokia, Dell, and Lenovo topped the list.

The ranking is based on the use of toxic chemicals, plans to phase out such materials and reclycling policies for high tech consumer goods.

Greenpeace cited Apple's policies towards PVC and Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) as a reason for the improved environmental assessment. It particularly praised the company's pledge to remove the substances from all of its products by 2008.

The company also hailed Apple's goal to recycle 30 percent of its products by 2010 and the volume yielded by Apple's current recycling practices. The computer maker currently takes in 9.5 percent of products sold seven years ago.

But the ranking in the lower half of the overall list indicated that there is still much room for improvement. The company still does not do enough to follow a precautionary principle in its environmental policies, said Greenpeace.

The group also knocked the principles of Apple's recycling programme. The group contends that despite the large amount recycled, the programme does not extend worlwide, and fails to provide enough education to individual customers.

Greenpeace has previously targetted Apple in a special campaign called "Green My Apple."

In April, the group accused Apple of www.vnunet.com to improve its environmental policies.

Greenpeace spokespeople later explained to www.vnunet.com that the group is especially vocal in regards to Apple because it sees the company as an industry leader capable of influencing other vendors to adopt better policies.

Apple initially shrugged off the Greenpeace report, claiming that it was, in fact, years ahead of other vendors in its practices.

Eventually, however, Greenpeace's efforts prompted chief executive Steve Jobs to release a public report outlining Apple's environmental policies and its plans for the future.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment on the latest rankings.

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