Nokia tops eco-friendly chart

Mobile phone maker Nokia has been awarded the accolade of the most eco-friendly electronics manufacturer in the world.

Ranked first out of 18 companies by Greenpeace, Nokia scored a total of seven out of ten, with scoring based on the company’s policy regarding use of chemicals, waste disposal, and energy use.

Japan-based games console company Nintendo came last in the rankings, with a score of 0.8, whilst world renowned software-maker Microsoft was placed second last with a score of just 2.2.

Nokia was praised for its phone collection policy in India, its PVC-free handset range, and its aim to make all new phone models free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) by the end of 2009.

In India, Nokia has set up 354 collection points where customers can return unwanted or broken mobile handsets to be recycled.

Since 2005 its models have been free of PVC, a chemical plastic that is extremely harmful to the environment.

Greenpeace, which has ranked electronics companies nine times since 2006, says the rankings serve as a strong impetus for manufacturers to change their ways.

This appears to be true, with a number of companies following Nokia’s lead.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently announced that all new iPods will be free from BFRs, PVC and mercury. Apple is currently ranked 13th by Greenpeace.

Computer and camera makers Fujitsu Siemens, ranked third with a score of 5.5, have promised to eliminate PVC and BFRs from all their products by 2010.

Intel recently announced that its new range of Xeon 5400 processors will be made using Hafnium so that BFRs do not need to be used in production.

Current Greenpeace rankings are:

1. Nokia
2. Samsung
3. Fujitsu Siemens
4. Sony Ericsson
5. Sony
6. LG
7. Toshiba
8. Dell
9. Hewlett Packard
10. Acer
11. Panasonic
12. Philips
13. Apple
14. Lenovo
15. Motorola
16. Sharp
17. Microsoft
18. Nintendo