Computers

Philips have made progress in the latest version of our Guide to Greener Electronics - released today. The company's new Econova TV is the first on the market to be free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), putting it well ahead of other TV manufacurers.

The guide ranks the 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TVs and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and the climate impacts of their operations. There's also a detailed reports on each company's performance.

So just how green are big names such as Nokia, Microsoft, Sony and HP?

See full guide on our international site to find out »

Want to know who's really pulling their finger out to give us products that cause the least environmental damage - then look no further.

Our ranking guide, published quarterly since 2006, shows clearly how the 18 top consumer electronics companies line up. But now we've produced a new chart showing which of those companies have eliminated the most harmful chemicals from their product ranges.

Roll over the stars in the chart below to see product details, and click the company name to visit their webpage about reducing harmful chemicals.

If saving our climate was a game of poker and all the various stakeholders - our heads of state, the energy industry, environmentalists, etc - were players, there would be one player at the table who hasn't yet shown their cards. The hold-out in this particular game is the Information Technology (IT) Industry, a player who is sitting on a lot of chips in a high stakes game, despite holding a winning hand.

Apple's detox promise: close but not quite there yet

Mac fans in our office (and there are more than a few) were getting excited yesterday - we were expecting an announcement from MacWorld 2009 in San Francisco, confirming that Apple would as promised be removing all toxic PVC plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from its entire new product range.

Confidence was high that this was going to happen because we've had the word from the man himself - Apple CEO Steve Jobs - from as far back as May 2007 that toxic PVC and BFRs in Mac computers would be history by the end of 2008. His enthusiam for the subject, of course, initially stemmed from the success of our Green my Apple campaign, which generated huge support and discussion from Mac addicts worldwide.