Greenpeace: Apple Is Headed Toward Greener Pastures

The verdict? Greenpeace gave props to Apple's elimination of some toxic material. The group said that Apple's specs showed that the MacBook Pro, MacBook and MacBook Air as well as the LED Cinema Display will now have internal cables free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and will have internal components that do not contain brominated flame retardants (BFRs).

However, the company's less poisonous products still did not meet with all of Greenpeace's objectives.

"[This is] not quite the breakthrough we were hoping for, said the organization in a statement. "These new MacBooks are currently on a similar level of toxics reduction to the Sony Viao laptop series on PVC and the Lenovo Think Vision in monitors. The BFR-free internal components represent an improvement from the bar set by the Vaio line."

But Apple is not done with its plan to become more environmentally friendly in future product lines, and reiterated an earlier pledge to rid products of certain toxins.

"Last year we announced the unprecedented goal of eliminating PVC and BFRs from Apple products by the end of 2008," wrote Steve Jobs, in an update of Apple's environmental progress on the company's Web site. "We also pledged to remove mercury from our displays and arsenic from our display glass as we transition to more efficient light-emitting diode (LED) technology. I'm proud to report that all of Apple's new product designs are on track to meet our 2008 year-end goal."

Jobs also wrote about improvements in Apple's recycling program and efforts to lessen its carbon footprint.

"Of course, we are constantly working to reduce the emissions associated with Apple's products," said Jobs. "This means making them more efficient in size and energy consumption. For example, the 20-inch iMac consumes about the same amount of electricity as a single household light bulb—just 67 watts—when on. That's more efficient than our competitors have pledged to make their PCs two years from now."

While Greenpeace said it is pleased with Apple's progress, it is calling upon other computer manufacturers to follow suit.

"This will be a first for a computer maker and lays down the challenge to competitors such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Toshiba," said Greenpeace. "All have pledged to remove these chemicals from PCs in 2009. But if Apple has solved the challenges involved there's no excuse for any of these companies not to follow Apple's lead on toxic chemicals elimination now and not wait until the end of 2009."