The quarterly Greenpeace guide, now on its fourth edition, takes into account levels of toxicity and recycling and though no single company is yet classified as 'green' Greenpeace has observed a positive uptake in the challenge for corporate greenness.

While Sony scores a dismal four out of 10 on the latest scale, its phone handset counterpart, Sony Ericsson, seems to benefit from Swedish input, ranking a healthier seven out of 10.

But it's Finnish phone giant Nokia that is leading the field with an impressive eight out of 10, for meeting or exceeding a wide set of benchmarks laid down by Greenpeace to reduce the amount and toxicity of electronic waste piling up in Asia and Africa.

Big Irish employer Dell and its competitor Lenovo are tied for second place (7.3 out of 10) with good takeback policies for outdated equipment, but both lose points for still including some of the worst chemicals on the market in some of their products.

Greenpeace is pleased that many corporations have risen to the green challenge, although this campaign doesn't just aim to protect mother earth.

They want manufacturers to take responsibility for the unprotected child labourers "who scavenge the mountains of cast-off gadgets created by our gizmo-loving ways" and for the millions of tonnes of toxic e-waste routinely shipped to places suych as China where unprotected workers recover parts and materials.