Tech Shout!

Yesterday, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs responded to attacks made by environmental groups accusing the company of not being ‘green’ enough.

In fact, in its 2007 rankings of the world’s most eco-friendly firms, Apple ranked last with a score of just 2.5 on 10 for use of toxic substances in its production processes.

In a message posted on the Apple Web site, Steve Jobs said, “Apple has been criticized by some environmental organizations for not being a leader in removing toxic chemicals from its new products, and for not aggressively or properly recycling its old products.”

In an extensive report published last night, Jobs took the wraps off several elements of Apple’s existing environmental policy, and talked briefly about some of the company’s targets to take the lead in tackling environmental computer productions.

“Apple is already a leader in innovation and engineering, and we are applying these same talents to become an environmental leader,” said Jobs.

Greenpeace also raised its ranking on the company’s environmental policy from 2.5 to 5 out of a total potential score of 10. This score hasn’t yet been updated on the campaigning group’s website, but has been reported across various US media.

Apple has declared a phase out of the worst chemicals in its product range, Brominated Fire Retardants (BFRs) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) by 2008. That beats Dell and other computer manufactures’ pledge to phase them out by 2009.

PVC is used to make flexible plastics as used in wiring and other electrical components, while BFR is used to coat motherboards to make sure they don’t catch fire as a result of the heat of computer processors.

Greenpeace has happily accepted Apple’s environmental promise, but now wants the company to initiate a global recycling scheme in order to improve its environmental ranking.

“While customers in the US will be able to return their Apple products for recycling knowing that their gear won’t end up in the e-waste mountains of Asia and India, Apple isn’t making that promise to anyone but customers in the US. Elsewhere in the world, an Apple product today can still be tomorrow’s e-waste. Other manufacturers offer worldwide takeback and recycling. Apple should too,” it was posted on an environmental organization’s Web site.

While Jobs didn’t promise this, some of his comments suggest the company will eventually be able to deliver on such demands, starting with the hugely successful iPod.

Check out our article on tech companies going green.