A green Apple a day keeps Greenpeace away
According to Greenpeace’s latest “Green Ranking” (released on Wednesday), Chinese PC maker Lenovo is the world’s most environmentally conscious electronics maker. The lowest-ranked company on Greenpeace’s list is, surprisingly enough, Apple. This is not to say that people will start boycotting Apple stores anytime soon, but it should give the company an extra incentive to green up its business model:
“Apple was ranked last because of its failure to make any progress in
its recycling and toxic content policies, Greenpeace said in its report. The environmental group started publishing the list
in August 2006. Apple also was taken to task by Greenpeace for failing
to release the full list of regulated substances it uses, and for
refusing to provide timelines for eliminating use of the most toxic
substances.
In addition, Apple “performs poorly” in product take-back and
recycling, Greenpeace said. The only positive for Apple is that it
reports on the amounts of its electronic waste recycled.”
As might be expected, Apple wasn’t accepting the low ranking without a bit of a challenge:
“Apple took issue with Greenpeace’s ranking system. “We disagree
with Greenpeace’s rating and the criteria they chose,” a company
spokeswoman said. “Apple has a strong environmental track record, and
has led the industry in restricting and banning toxic substances, such
as mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium, as well as any BFRs.
Apple also said its desktops, notebooks and displays scored “best in class” in the Green Electronics Council’s ranking system, called the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT. A quick search of the site
found that Apple’s products received silver rankings, which fell
between bronze and gold. The organization evaluates products based
international standards set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The top five green-rated vendors were Lenovo, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Dell, and Samsung.
[image: Greenpeace Apple]
