Considering that just a few short years ago Apple was scoring dead last on Greenpeace’s report on green-friendly data centres, the company has made amazing strides in order to turn around its reputation. In a new September report from Greenpeace, entitled “Green Gadgets: Designing the Future,” the global environmental organization says that Apple is doing more than any other manufacturer to reduce the damage it does to the environment. The report notes that Apple has kept its promise to eliminate use of hazardous materials including Polyvinylchloride (PVC) and Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in its products.

Apple is doing more than any other manufacturer to reduce the damage it does to the environment, says Greenpeace. Apple is moving from zero to hero as it attempts to create greener gadgets that put the environment first. The latest Greenpeace report, ‘Green Gadgets: Designing the Future’ (PDF), has a lot of praise for Apple, and while it points to a few things it can still do it makes it pretty clear others, including Samsung, should copy Cupertino when it comes to going green. “Apple has shown us a glimpse of a greener future, leading the sector on toxic-free products and starting to address the huge environmental footprint of electronics manufacturing,” says Greenpeace UK’s head of IT, Andrew Hatton. Apple has kept to its promise to eliminate use of the most hazardous products, Polyvinylchloride (PVC) and Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in its products. Over 50 percent of the mobile phone market is now free of PVC and BFR, the report said, attributing this to steps taken by Apple, Nokia and Samsung. However, Apple is the only PC brand that no longer uses PVC power cables as well as PVC and BFRs in some minor components. The TV industry is different — there are no televisions (other than one model made by Philips) that are free of PVC and BFR, Greenpleace claims.