According to an extensive Greenpeace report handily dissected by Edge-Online, Sony is far and away the most environmentally friendly of the current generation console manufacturers. The firm scored 5.3/10 in the 8th Guide to Greener Electronics – not perfect, but lightyears ahead of Microsoft on 2.9/10 and Nintendo on 0.9/10.
Greenpeace’s toxic campaigner Iza Kruszewska commented that Sony was "clearly leading the way for the console holders," having been the first company to introduce a product take-back policy in the U.S. Sony also scored points for reducing the usage of chemicals like PVC and BFR in its products. Nintendo, by contrast, is "not engaging at all", while Microsoft is "just getting on board with the environment."
These findings seem to fly in the face of a recent National Resources Defence Council survey, which indicate that the Wii consumes far less power than either of its competitors, but according to Kruszewska the comparison is more than a little flawed.
“The Wii definitely uses much less energy than the other consoles," he explained. "But it is a completely different type of product. If you look at the graphics processor that your PS3 or 360 will have, it’s hard to put them into exactly the same category. I mean, the PS3 is being used by universities globally when they have lots of number crunching to do because it’s that powerful. We’re talking about a 9-core processor here.”
Be sure to check out the research in full.