Apple may be cool but it comes last on green list

NEW YORK: Apple Computer may be cool and hip with consumers, but it is anything but a trend-setter when it comes to good environmental policies, Greenpeace says.

In its latest report on big electronics manufacturers, the environment activist group ranked Apple last on environmental issues because it still uses harmful chemicals in many of its products and because it does a poor job promoting recycling efforts for its iPods and other products.

Near the top of the list for best companies: Dell, ranked only behind Nokia in terms of environmental friendliness. Dell scored points with the group because of its computer recycling program, which has become among the best in the industry.

Motorola has made the most improvements, according to Greenpeace, in part because it now makes more than 30 mobile phones and other products that do not contain harmful chemicals.

Apple, however, relies heavily on toxic chemicals and plastics, Greenpeace said. In a study, Apple's MacBook Pro laptops contained more of one type of a toxic flame retardant chemical than any other top brand.

Such chemicals are thought to be potentially harmful to users, but also pollute the environment when they are disposed of, often in poor countries in Asia and Africa.

A spokesman for Apple, Steve Dowling, took issue with the findings and the criteria behind the group's report.

He said the company consistently scored high on other environmental rankings, including one created by a group called the Green Electronics Council that is based on Environmental Protection Agency standards.

It was a leader in eliminating the use of lead-containing cathode ray tube monitors, for example, and touts its promotion of wireless technology in helping eliminate cables and wires that can contain harmful polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.