• by Emily Burg , July 5, 2007

Nokia has reclaimed its top ranking in the fourth edition of Greenpeace's quarterly "Green Electronics Guide," after losing the No. 1 slot to Lenovo in the guide's April edition. Lenovo, whose previous first-place ranking was a huge surprise, slides to second place, in a tie with Dell. This is a big improvement for Dell from the previous edition.

Apple, which received enormous flack for its bottom-ranked slot in the April edition, made a big comeback to place 10 out of 14 this time. Sony is at the bottom of this edition, with a score of four for its inconsistent take-back policies.

Nokia became the front-runner again with a score of eight out of 10, thanks to its support for Individual Producer Responsibility, which requires each company to take care of the electronic waste from its branded discarded products, and for already eliminating most of the worst chemicals from its products. However, Greenpeace thinks Nokia needs to report more on its recycling rate percentage.

Lenovo faced a misstep by failing to enact a clear global take-back program for its products, something Dell has pioneered as the only company in the industry to offer free recycling for any Dell-branded product at any time, anywhere in the world, a model Greenpeace has urged other technology companies to emulate.

While Lenovo enjoyed some immediate glory after its first-place ranking in the April edition of the Greenpeace report, Dell has stolen its thunder. The company in June announced a series of green initiatives designed to make it the greenest tech company, including a Zero Carbon Initiative for the Long Term, a commitment to reducing its global carbon intensity by 15% by 2012 and the launch of a contest on its IdeaStorm web site soliciting ideas on how to build "the greenest PC on the planet." However, Greenpeace chides Dell for not making models free of the worst chemicals.

Apple, which scored a 5.3 out of 10 in this edition of the report, versus a 2.7 in the previous report, moves up in the rankings, thanks to its announcement of concrete timelines to eliminate the worst chemicals, as well as its reporting of its recycling rate as a percentage of sales (9.5% seven years ago versus a 30% goal by 2010). However, Apple's lack of a green product and a weak take-back program lose it points from Greenpeace.

Greenpeace waged a 2007 Webby-award winning activist campaign called "Green my Apple" against Apple, which is largely credited for Steve Jobs' open letter outlining ways in which the company has brought, is bringing and will bring its environmental practices in line, published in May.