"Apple Inc rejoined the EPEAT environmental ratings system on Friday, acknowledging that its decision to stop participating in a program that rates the green credentials of electronic products was a mistake."

"The about-face came after reports that various government agencies and schools that use the EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) certification system were considering dropping Apple's products, which include Macintosh computers and iPads.

"We've recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake," senior vice president of hardware engineering, Bob Mansfield, said in a letter on Apple's website.

Apple has in the past year touted its own green credentials, most recently by announcing an internal initiative to use cleaner energy sources for its data farms in North Carolina."

Poornima Gupta reports for Reuters July 16, 2012. [2]