The Mac maker does well on the toxic chemicals criteria, the organization says

Jan 8, 2010 11:53 GMT  ·  By
Greenpeace chart for companies that have eliminated the most harmful chemicals from their product ranges
   Greenpeace chart for companies that have eliminated the most harmful chemicals from their product ranges

Greenpeace has posted a new chart showing which of the 18 companies indexed by the organization have eliminated the most harmful chemicals from their product ranges. Scoring four gold stars, Apple takes first place in the ranking, getting praised by the non-governmental organization for removing many toxic chemicals from its electronics.

“Gold stars represent products free of the worst hazardous substances,” Greenpeace explains to those looking at the chart. “Smaller stars mean there are lmited [sic] products free of worst hazardous substances. A grey star means none of the products made by this company in these product categories are free of worst hazardous substances. And finally, a dash means that the company doesn't make that kind of product.”

With all this cleared up, Greenpeace goes on to say that, “Apple is leading the way on eliminating toxic PVC and BFRs from all its new products with the new iMac and MacBook being the first PC's completely free of PVC and BFRs.”

On the page dedicated to the Guide to Greener Electronics, Apple can be spotted on the fifth position in the ranking. “Apple continues its climb up the ranking from 11th place in v.12 to 9th in v.13 and is now in 5th place, with a score of 5.1 points, up from 4.9,” Greenpeace reveals. “Apple does best on the toxic chemicals criteria, where it scores most of its points. It scores substantially less on waste and energy,” the organization claims.

Apple seems to be doing a pretty lousy job at providing information on its updated web-pages about its supply chain communications. According to Greenpeace, this lack of information is even worse than before, costing Apple a point. Also affecting the Mac maker's ranking in the Guide to Greener Electronics is the minimal information it is disclosing about its future toxic chemical phase-out plans. “Reducing its communication on this subject on its updated web-pages” has cost Apple another point, Greenpeace claims.

However, Apple’s commitment to the environment is also known to include the proper disposing of electronic equipment at the end of its useful life, something that Greenpeace apparently fails to acknowledge. For example, Apple customers get free recycling with every new Mac. Moreover, the company recycles various computers and displays, regardless of their manufacturer.