March 6, 2008 - A trio of Sony products bested the competition in Greenpeace's new "Searching for Greener Electronics" survey, but the industry has plenty of room for improvement: the top-scoring products earned just 50 points out of a possible 100.

The Greenpeace report judges 37 products from 14 companies based on their use of hazardous substances, energy efficiency, recyclability, and upgradeability, as well as other metrics such as energy use during production. Products were ranked in four categories: desktops, notebooks, mobile phones, and PDAs.

Some highlights:

• The Sony Vaio TZ11 notebook, the Sony Ericsson T650i mobile phone, and the Sony Ericsson P1i PDA scored highest overall in their respective categories. Sony products scored best on toxics reduction, eliminating PVC and phthalates and relying on just two exemptions from the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive, which restricts the use of six hazardous chemicals in electronics.
  
• Dell scored particularly well on the energy-efficienct of its products, with the Dell Optiplex 755 desktop and Dell XPS M1330 notebook each achieving 15 out of a possible 20 points for energy efficiency.
• Toshiba scored points for offering consumers the most comprehensive information on energy consumption for its notebook Portégé R50.
• The charger for the Motorola MOTOKRZR mobile phone "left its competitors behind" on energy efficiency.
  

"Since undertaking the survey we have already witnessed the arrival of greener products in the market, such as the Apple's new laptop, the MacBook Air, and Nokia's new phone, the Evolve" says Greenpeace's Yannick Vicaire. "Manufacturers still have a long way to go, but more and more are now taking the environmental impacts of their products seriously."

The report calls for electronics manufacturers to better educate consumers on their products' green features and to develop industrywide standards for evaluating a product's environmental impact at every stage of its lifecycle.

"Searching for Green Electronics" is a follow-up to Greenpeace's sixth annual "Guide to Green Electronics," released in November, which ranked electronics manufacturers based on environmental performance.

Download the report here (PDF).