Greenpeace Still Not in Love with Apple

The environmental group's latest rankings put Apple behind 13 other companies, despite a slight increase in its overall score.

Despite a new ad campaign touting the recyclable nature and energy-efficient properties of its MacBooks, Apple has still slipped to competitors on the list of green electronics manufacturers published by the environmental group Greenpeace. The latest list ranked Apple below 13 other manufacturers including HP, Sony, Panasonic, Motorola, and class leader Nokia.

According to Greenpeace, Apple has made a number of positive changes including removed brominated flame retardants and PVC from its latest iPods and MacBooks, but needs to commit to removing them entirely to score more points. It also lags behind competitors in the recycling category. Greenpeace awarded Apple a total score of 4.3, compared to 6.9 for competitor Nokia.

Which factors does Greenpeace take into account? According to the site: “To be truly green, electronics companies must eliminate the worst toxics substance from their products, offer free global recycling, have the most efficient products and push for a low-carbon economy.”

Nokia scores high across several categories, including its global recycling program for mobile phones, elimination of toxic materials, and renewable energy use.