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The environmental campaign group has been critical of Apple in the past, but in a blog post it praised the company for taking a lead on the elimination of toxic chemicals, for improving recycling and for providing information about the carbon footprint of each Apple product.

The elimination of PVC and BFRs is the most significant announcement, Greenpeace says.

“This will be a first for a computer maker and lays down the challenge to competitors such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Toshiba. All have pledged to remove these chemicals from PCs in 2009. But if Apple has solved the challenges involved there's no excuse for any of these companies not to follow Apple's lead on toxic chemicals elimination now and not wait until the end of 2009.”

Greenpeace also singled out Apple chief executive Steve Jobs for praise.

“While Apple, and other top electronic companies, still face many challenges on the road to truly green electronics, it can only be a good thing to see a top CEO and high profile a public figure as Steve Jobs devoting significant time to environmental concerns at Apple.”