O2 has today launched a new green ranking initiative for mobile phones – but Apple has excluded its iPhones from being included in the scheme.

Run together with Forum for the Future, O2’s new green scheme ranks how environmentally friendly a handset is. Phones are scored between zero and five, depending on how green they are.

Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, said: “Billions of people worldwide are using mobile phones to organise their lives. We want to reward manufacturers who make efforts to reduce their environmental impacts and think creatively about how their devices can contribute to a better world.”

Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung have all taken part, and RIM has said it will join the scheme next year. However, Apple has opted out of the voluntary scheme – so we can’t say how green iPhone 4 deals are – and refused to comment, although the company has pointed out its environmental reporting is online.

The mobile phones are scored according to how green they are, and factors taken into consideration include packaging, materials, manufacturing process and energy efficiency.

From 65 handsets, the Sony Ericsson Elm won first place as the greenest device, with a score of 4.3.  Seven phones took second place with 4: the Nokia 1800, Nokia 6700, Nokia C7, Samsung GT-58500, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro, and Sony Ericsson Zylo.

In total, 5 Sony Ericsson handsets came in the top 10, with its GreenHeart model leading the way.

Ronan Dunne, O2’s UK Chief Executive said: “We know that sustainability is important for many of our customers and for the first time they will have the whole picture from which to make a full and balanced purchasing decision. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the social and environmental impact of the technology they buy and we believe this kind of product transparency will help empower them to make greener choices.”

Would a mobile phone’s green ranking affect your purchase decision? Let us know, below.

Tags: Apple, Apple-iPhone, Apple-iPhone-4, Apple-iPhone-4-deals, GreenHeart, O2 News, O2-green-scheme, Sony-Ericsson-Elm

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 6:57 pm and is filed under Mobile Phone Industry News, O2 News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.