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New O2 list rates eco-friendliness of handsets

Britain's biggest mobile phone operator, O2, has published a list rating the environmental friendliness of mobile phones on the market in the UK.

Sony Ericsson's Elm handest emerged as the most eco-friendly phone currently available, after being judged on factors including the corporate responsibility and processes of the manufacturer, component materials – including packaging – and the costs of both running and disposing of the phone.

Glaring omissions from the list were Apple and RIM, the companies behid the iPhone and BlackBerry. The computer giant choose instead to rate its models according to its own environmental policies, while RIM pledged to join the scheme next year.

An O2 representative said they hoped the scheme would establish an industry-wide standard measure of a phone's sustainability.

The scheme awards phones a ranking on a scale up to five (including decimal points) – represented on packaging with a rainbow icon. The Sony Ericsson Elm achieved an Eco rating of 4.3 out of 5, while the worst performing phone was the destructively-named LG Etna, which scored just 2.7.

Most of the major manufacturers chose to take part in the scheme, including HTC, LG, Nokia, Palm, Samsung and Sony Ericsson – which covers 93 per cent of the handsets sold by O2.

The Eco ratings can now be found on O2's website or in their high street stores.