Nokia fell from first place to ninth and Nintendo placed last in the latest guide to green electronics from Greenpeace.
Nokia’s ranking dropped mainly because Greenpeace says the company fails to support its stated recycling program. A Greenpeace video shows a mobile user entering a shop in Argentina that Nokia referred the user to in order to recycle an old phone. The shopkeeper says she doesn’t take back used phones and doesn’t know where to refer the person to do so.
Greenpeace found similar situations in the Philippines, Thailand, Russia and India, where Nokia staff didn’t know about Nokia’s take-back program and often provided misleading information. In Thailand, Russia and Argentina, information about the service wasn’t available in the local language.
Greenpeace awards scores to companies on the list based on many factors including recycling programs and toxic substances used in products.
Motorola also fell in the ranking for similar reasons as Nokia. Greenpeace found that Motorola staff in the Philippines, Thailand and India were poorly informed about the company’s phone take-back program. Also, Motorola doesn’t have a take-back service in Russia, Greenpeace said.
For the first time Greenpeace included gaming consoles on the list. Nintendo became the first company to score a zero for having no environmental credentials at all. Microsoft received a score of 2.7, with points for chemical management but not much else.
Apple moved up one position in the ranking to 11th for a decrease in the use of certain toxic chemicals in iMacs and iPods. The company would do better if it improved the reach of its take-back programs and posted its banned substance list on its Web site, Greenpeace said.
Sony Ericsson took the top spot in the report, with a score of 7.7 out of 10. The company has improved its reporting of recycled phones and set a timeline for the elimination of some chemicals, Greenpeace found.
Samsung came in second place and Sony, third. Both companies did well in reducing toxic chemicals, Greenpeace said.