Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics: November 2008

From energy efficiency to toxics used in manufacturing to end-of-life issues, the road to truly green electronics faces a steep climb. Although most companies are taking these issues very seriously, it will surely be a slow process.

Every three months, the international environmental group Greenpeace rates these companies on how well they’re doing — and raises the bar a little higher. In this, the tenth quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace calls on manufacturers to up their company-wide commitments to steep and rapid cuts in overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Nokia maintains its top score in the ranking, earning 6.9 points out of 10 possible for its takeback program and reducing the use of toxic chemicals like PVC, brominated flame retardants and antimony trioxide.

Rounding out the top four is a three-way tie between Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Samsung, all with 5.9 points. Sony earned high marks for its new environmental warranty for responsible takeback, Toshiba gains ground with its reporting of and goals toward renewable energy use and emissions reductions, and Samsung earned praise for reducing toxic chemical use and building energy-efficient products.