KEY POINTS:
Apple, the world's most popular computer company, is rated worst among major electronics firms for its environmental policies by Greenpeace.
In a survey of 14 companies, the environmental group yesterday put the manufacturers of the Mac, the Powerbook and the iPod bottom of the list for its policies on elimination of toxic substances and recycling.
It was an unaccustomed blot on the halo of the firm with the highest brand and repurchase loyalty of any computer manufacturer.
Greenpeace said yesterday that Apple scores badly on almost all criteria in a detailed survey of its environmental attitudes and practices.
The rankings are in the updated version of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics, published yesterday on its website.
At the top of the list, for the first time, was the Chinese PC maker Lenovo, which displaced Nokia from the lead it had maintained since the guide started last September.
The Greenpeace report does not scientifically compare the environmental qualities of the products of the different companies, merely the companies' published policies.
Apple said yesterday it disagreed with Greenpeace's rating and the criteria the group had chosen, and defended its environmental position.
"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 many BFRs (brominated flame retardants)," the company said.
Behind the dispute between two of the world's most celebrated brand names is the growing concern about e-waste - electrical and electronic goods that have come to the end of their lives.
The production of all these devices, from computers and printers to CD players and mobile phones, is the fastest-growing sector in manufacturing industry in the industrialised countries.
The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that between 20 and 50 million tonnes of these devices - from computers and printers to CD players and mobile phones - are thrown away as obsolete every year, with potentially serious risks to human health and the environment.
This is because they contain toxic chemicals, and so are expensive to recycle properly. Instead, huge amounts are shipped, especially from the US, to China and India, where they are broken up for scrap, often by children in dumps.
Greenpeace is mounting a two-pronged campaign against what it says is an environmental disaster in the making - pressuring the manufacturers to phase out the toxic chemicals in the products, and to take responsibility for disposing of the products at the end of their lives by taking them back from customers and recycling them.
In particular it is calling for the elimination of PVC plastic, used as an insulator on internal cabling, and of all brominated flame retardants, used to laminate printed circuit boards to prevent them catching fire.
In Europe, including Britain, a new EU law will this year make producers responsible for obsolete electronic goods, but there is no such regulation in the US or elsewhere.
The Greenpeace guide measures the voluntary performance of electronics firms on chemicals and producer responsibility.
A major surprise is the emergence at the top of the list of Lenovo, which, although it is China's computer giant, is a company of which many people have not heard.
"Lenovo scores top marks on its e-waste policies and practice," Greenpeace said. "It offers takeback and recycling in all the countries where its products are sold."
- INDEPENDENT
Green screens
Best and worst electronic companies, ranked by Greenpeace:
1 Lenovo
2 Nokia
3 Sony Ericsson
4 Dell
5 Samsung
6 Motorola
7 Fujitsu-Siemens
8 HP
9 Acer
10 Toshiba
11 Sony
12 LGE
13 Panasonic
14 Apple
