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The firm said it had reached its original target of recycling half a billion kilograms of waste - set at the beginning of 2004 - six months early. And HP criticised its competitor IBM for lagging behind in the recycling stakes.

In 2006 HP said it had recycled 85 million kilograms of electronics compared to just 50 million kilograms by IBM. That figure represents 10 per cent of HP's overall "relevant" product output.

"Environmental responsibility

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is good business ... We've reached the tipping point where the price and performance IT are no longer compromised by being green, but are now enhanced by it," said Mark Hurd, HP's chairman and chief executive.

HP's efforts in recycling were recognised earlier this year by inclusion in Fortune Magazine's "Ten Green Giants" in April 2007.

Fortune wrote: "HP owns massive e-waste recycling plants, where enormous shredders and granulators reduce four million pounds of computer detritus each month to bite-sized chunks - the first step in reclaiming not just steel and plastic but also toxic chemicals like mercury and even some precious metals. HP will take back any brand of equipment; its own machines are 100 percent recyclable."

Putting out absolute figures and comparing them to other companies figures may be misleading, however.

HP, for example, includes both electronics and printer cartridges in its figures. IBM's figures do not, which might go some way towards explaining the disparity between the two companies.