Lenovo most eco-friendly tech firm

The Chinese computer maker beat Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Dell and Samsung in the Greenpeace ranking.

Chinese computer maker Lenovo has topped the 2007 ranking of the world's most eco-friendly electronics firms by surging ahead of Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Dell and Samsung. Apple Inc has been given the last slot among the 14 international firms that were surveyed.

The ranking report compiled by Greenpeace is based on the eco-friendly measures that are adopted in the production processes by these firms, and the techniques used to recycle the hardware products.

The study, which was first compiled in 2006, has shown improvement in green measures adopted, but it fell short from declaring any firm as 'green'.

Iza Kruszewska of Greenpeace said that of the 14 companies profiled, nine scored more than five out of 10, which showed improvement of these firms in terms of eliminating toxic substances from their production processes.

'Given the growing mountains of e-waste in China - both imported and domestically generated - it is heartening to see a Chinese company taking the lead, and assuming responsibility at least for its own branded waste,' the BBC quoted Kruszewska as saying.

Lenovo, which bought IBM's consumer electronics division in 2005, got 8 out of 10 for offering take back services in all the nations where its products are sold, which meant that it recycles any broken or obsolete own-brand product returned to it.

However, the Chinese firm lost marks for still using some of the most toxic substances to make its products.

The Greenpeace campaigners however reserved their criticism for Apple for not setting a deadline for eliminating some toxic chemicals from its production processes. Apple scored merely 2.7 out of 10 on the report's ranking.

Meanwhile, Apple has expressed their disagreement with the Greenpeace's rating and the criteria.

In a statement issues by the company, it stated: 'Apple has a strong environmental track record and has led the industry in restricting and banning toxic substances."

The ranking along with the points released by the Greenpeace are enlisted below:

1) Lenovo: 8

2) Nokia: 7.3

3) Sony/Ericsson: 7

4) Dell: 7

5) Samsung: 6.3

6) Motorola: 6.3

7) Fujitsu/Siemens: 6

8) Hewlett-Packard: 5.6

9) Acer: 5.3

10) Toshiba: 4.3