Of the top five PC manufacturers, only Apple stands out for being truly green, while Acer’s making progress in that direction, according to Greenpeace’s latest Guide to Greener Electronics.

On the other hand, the organisation gave Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Dell penalty points for backtracking on their commitments to eliminate the toxins polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of this year.

As of the end of last year, Apple had already made good on that commitment with the exception on one technical hurdle: achieving certified PVC-free power cords.

“If Apple can find the solutions, there should be no reason why the other leading PC companies can not,” said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. “All of them should have at least one toxic-free line of products on the market by the end of this year.”

Among the electronics companies showing the most improvement in this year’s report is Philips, which jumped from 15th place to fourth after improving its stand on taking financial responsibility for recycling its e-waste, according to Greenpeace.

The updated guide also notes how many companies are increasingly focusing on information and communication technologies to help curb greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. Many of those organisations are also upping their use of renewable energy; Nokia, for example, already derives one-fourth of its electricity from renewable energy sources.

Tags: electronics.