Dell, HP, IBM top Newsweek's 2010 Green Rankings

Some of America's largest technology companies sit atop Newsweek's2010 Green Rankings, which the beleaguered newsweekly announced on Monday.

The publication rearranged the world's 100 largest companies and the top 500 in the U.S. -- it is, after all, an American magazine -- based on a "green score," culled from weighted figures for each corporation's environmental impact, green policies and reputation, as compiled by MSCI ESG Research, Trucost and CorporateRegister.com. (You can read the full methodology here.)

The results? In the U.S., Dell tops the list, with Hewlett-Packard and IBM filling out the top three.

Here are Newsweek's top 20 in America:

1. Dell
2. HP
3. IBM
4. Johnson & Johnson
5. Intel
6. Sprint Nextel
7. Adobe Systems
8. Applied Materials
9. Yahoo!
10. Nike
11. Accenture
12. AMD
13. Cisco
14. Johnson Controls
15. Baxter International
16. Eaton
17. Bristol-Meyers Squibb
18. Office Depot
19. Allergan
20. PG&E

That's right: eight of the top 10 companies are technology companies; of the top 20, it's exactly half.

Extending the field to the rest of the world, the rankings are surprisingly similar, with technology companies leading the way, punctuated by pharmaceutical and banking corporations.

Here are Newsweek's top 20 in the world:

1. IBM
2. HP
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Sony
5. GlaxoSmithKline
6. Novartis
7. Deutsche Telekom
8. Panasonic
9. HSBC
10. Toshiba
11. Vodafone
12. Barclays
13. Intesa SanPaolo
14. Nokia
15. ING
16. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone
17. Toyota
18. Honda
19. Allianz
20. Pfizer

For those keeping score at home, tech firms make up four of the top 10 companies and seven of the top 20.

If you're wondering why Newsweek picked these companies, well, you'll have to pony up some serious dough (read: ask your boss) to read the entire report. But be advised that it seems to be fairly comprehensive.

Apparently, more than 700 metrics figure into the Environmental Impact Score, including emissions of nine key greenhouse gases, water use, solid-waste disposal, and emissions that contribute to acid rain and smog.

And five broad categories make up the Green Policies Score: climate-change policies and performance, pollution policies and performance, product impact, environmental stewardship, and management of environmental issues.

Environmental performance, commitment, and communication. Is your company on the list?

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com