Phone collection plan is a winner

Sony Ericsson ranks third with its products. Photo / AP

Nokia has been ranked best and Nintendo the worst in a report on electronics companies by Greenpeace.

The latest in a series of three-monthly reports looked at large companies' progress improving their environmental standards, based on their public statements.

Cellphone giant Nokia won top marks for its 85-country, 5000 collection point project to take back old mobile phones.

At the other end of the list, the lack of time limits to phase out potentially toxic PVC from products, and slow progress cutting greenhouse gas emissions, put Nintendo last.

Greenpeace ranks companies according to their success in three areas - phasing out toxic chemicals, taking back and recycling old products, and reducing greenhouse gas pollution.

Nintendo came bottom in 18th place despite having a far more energy-efficient games console than its competitors.

A study by Consumer NZ last year found the Nintendo Wii used less than one eighth of the electricity of its competitors, Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation, when in use.

But Greenpeace said product energy efficiency was just part of a company's carbon footprint.

"The supply chain, shipping, and distribution can all lead to significant greenhouse gas emissions before a product is used. This is why companies who have assessed the greenhouse gas emissions ... and have a plan to significantly reduce [them] will score well," said the report.

Greenpeace New Zealand spokeswoman Suzette Jackson said New Zealand was behind the times in recycling electronics because there was very little active lobbying here compared with Europe.

She said substances such as PVC could release toxins into the air in countries such as Ghana and China, where old products were often sent for recycling in less-than-ideal conditions.

"We're not saying recycling shouldn't be sent to those countries, because it's so important economically, but problems could be avoided if these companies cleaned up their products," she said.

Elsewhere in the rankings, Apple rated higher than Microsoft because it labelled its products free of PVC and brominated flame retardants.

Philips rose from 15th place to fourth after it stopped lobbying against Individual Producer Responsibility, a policy Greenpeace supports in the United States and European Union that would require producers to take responsibility for their own-branded products once they became obsolete.

The Ministry for the Environment website says more than 5 million desktop computers and notebooks were sold in New Zealand between 1994 and 2007.

Waste created at the end of their lives is more toxic than normal household rubbish because computer equipment contains toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury, says the ministry.

Between 70 and 90 per cent of the material in scrap computer equipment (by weight) is recyclable or reusable.

A spokesman for Nokia in New Zealand said people could take their unwanted mobile phones to any Vodafone or Telecom retailer for recycling.

ELECTRONIC REPORT CARD

How they rank: Greenpeace report card on electronics companies.

1. Nokia 7.5/10: takes top spot with its voluntary take-back programme for end-of-life mobile phones. Poor recycling rates need to be improved.

2. Samsung 6.9/10: All new models of LCD screen are now PVC-free. Taking steps to phase out harmful substances across its product range.

3. Sony Ericsson 5.7/10: All products are PVC-free but needs to extend take-back and recycling programmes.

4. Philips 5.7/10: Moves from 15th place after it stopped lobbying against measures requiring producers to take responsibility for own products. Has a voluntary take-back programme and reports its rates of recycling.

10. Apple 4.7/10: Almost all products labelled PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFR) free. Needs to phase out other harmful substances.

12. Panasonic 4.3/10: Discloses greenhouse gases emissions from its operations and has committed to reducing them. Does not use the latest energy efficiency ratings standards for its TVs.

13. Dell 3.7/10: plunged in rankings after cancelling its target of eliminating PVC and BFR from its products by the end of the year. Committed to reducing greenhouse gases emissions by 40 per cent from 2007 levels by 2015. Loses points for poor energy efficiency of products.

15. Microsoft 2.7/10: Loses points for failing to clarify how its recycling data is calculated. Reports that it financed the collection and recycling of waste from the equivalent of 17 per cent of world sales in 2007.

18. (Last place) Nintendo 0.8/10: Trying to phase out PVC but has not set a time limit. Committed to cutting CO2 emissions by 2 per cent each year but recorded a 6 per cent rise in 2006.