New iPods make Apple greener, but not green enough for Greenpeace

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 11 September 2008 06:02

Science - Energy

But the Guide suggests the industry is going backwards, despite the decreased use of hazardous materials, improved recycling and better energy efficiency. In the first edition of the guide, four companies scored between five and seven on Greenpeace's ten-point scale. But in the latest edition, the maximum score was 5.1.

The new iPods - the touch, nano and classic - contain no PVC (which has been commonly used as the insulator on cables), brominated flame retardants (previously used to treat the plastic cases and circuit boards of electronic equipment) or mercury (found in some batteries, and in fluorescent backlighting). Furthermore, the glass used in the iPod touch display is free from arsenic.

"Greenpeace congratulates Apple for phasing out harmful chemicals like PVC and BFRs in its new, much greener iPods. But we know that Jobs and his team can go even further, and truly take a lead in greening the electronics industry," said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace International campaigner.

"What we'd really like for Christmas is to see Apple remove toxic chemicals from all its products, and announce a free, global recycling scheme," added Harrell.

Greenpeace has also called on Apple to widen the geographical coverage of its take-back programs.