If Steve Jobs has a secret plan to make Apple the most reviled technology company in the world his latest decision is a masterstroke. Apple has denied taking part in the UK’s first green ranking scheme for mobile phones. A series of PR problems have hit Apple this year. Overtaking Microsoft to become the world’s biggest technology firm. Apple has given no reason why it has declined to take part in the voluntary labeling scheme, a joint project between mobile network O2 and sustainability group Forum for the Future. But a spokeswoman pointed out that Apple provides reports into its environmental impact online.
Apple is not the only phone manufacturer that willingly publishes its own data, however – and others, who do, including Nokia, have agreed to take part in the new scheme. RIM, the manufacturer of Blackberry, has promised to join in next year. It is designed to give consumers an easy reference by which to judge how ‘green’ a phone is, giving each phone a rating between naught and five.
Phones are ranked on the ecological impact of harvesting the raw materials involved in making them, energy efficiency in use, how easy they are to recycle, how much energy is consumed in manufacturing, how much packaging they come with and how long they are likely to last before needing to be replaced.
NEWS SOURCE: www.thefirstpost.co.uk