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9/2/2010 11:42:01 AM
The Criteria
EPEAT’s environmental criteria are contained in a public standard, IEEE 1680. To purchase a copy of IEEE 1680 visit http://shop.ieee.org/ieeestore/ and search for 1680.

NOTE: The IEEE 1680 and 1680.1 standards contain essential information that is not available on this web site. It is necessary to own a copy of the IEEE 1680 and 1680.1 standards in order to declare a product. [ Purchase standard here ]

EPEAT evaluates electronic products in relation to 51 total environmental criteria, identified in the Criteria Table below and contained in IEEE 1680 -– 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria. To qualify for registration as an EPEAT product, the product must conform to all the required criteria.

Products are also ranked in EPEAT according to three tiers of environmental performance - Bronze, Silver, and Gold. All registered products must meet the required criteria, and achieve Bronze status. Manufacturers may then achieve a higher level EPEAT “rating” for products by meeting additional optional criteria, as follows:

Meets all 23 required criteria

Meets all 23 required criteria plus at least 50% of the optional criteria

Meets all 23 required criteria plus at least 75% of the optional criteria

Most EPEAT criteria refer to environmental performance characteristics of the specific product, and must be declared for each product registered. Some criteria relate to general corporate programs, such as a Corporate Environmental Policy or Environmental Management System. These Corporate Criteria apply to all of a given manufacturer’s EPEAT registered products and participating manufacturers declare to these criteria annually.

The IEEE 1680 Standard contains the full text of each criterion, to what types of product the criterion applies, what information a manufacturer must be prepared to provide to EPEAT to demonstrate conformance with the criterion, and additional references and details. To see these important details, and to register any product in EPEAT, the Standard must be purchased from IEEE.

Standard Interpretations and Clarifications

Over the course of EPEAT’s first two years and two verification rounds, the need for clarification and interpretation of some portions of the IEEE 1680 standard has become clear. In response, an IEEE Stakeholder Interpretations Group has issued some formal Interpretations of IEEE 1680, and the EPEAT Product Verification Committee (PVC) has issued some statements clarifying how they will interpret and apply specific criteria during verification. A detailed index of both Interpretations and Clarifications is available here.

Additional Resources

EPEAT Criteria Table

The following table contains only the title of each of the 51 criteria for easy reference. For a more detailed summary of the standard, please click here.

For a list of criteria by product category, click here.

       Printer-friendly version     A    All Criteria     R    Required Only     O    Optional Only

Required Criteria

4.1 Reduction/elimination of environmentally sensitive materials
  R  4.1.1.1   Compliance with provisions of European RoHS Directive upon its effective date 
  R  4.1.3.1   Reporting on amount of mercury used in light sources (mg)
  R  4.1.6.1   Elimination of intentionally added SCCP flame retardants and plasticizers in certain applications

4.2 Materials selection
  R  4.2.1.1   Declaration of postconsumer recycled plastic content (%)
  R  4.2.2.1   Declaration of renewable/bio-based plastic materials content  (%)
  R  4.2.3.1   Declaration of product weight (lbs)

4.3 Design for end of life
  R  4.3.1.1   Identification of materials with special handling needs
  R  4.3.1.2   Elimination of paints or coatings that are not compatible with recycling or reuse
  R  4.3.1.3   Easy disassembly of external enclosure
  R  4.3.1.4   Marking of plastic components
  R  4.3.1.5   Identification and removal of components containing hazardous materials
  R  4.3.1.8   Minimum 65 percent reusable/recyclable

4.4 Product longevity/life cycle extension
  R  4.4.1.1   Availability of additional three year warranty or service agreement
  R  4.4.2.1   Upgradeable with common tools

4.5 Energy conservation
  R  4.5.1.1   ENERGY STAR®

4.6 End of life management
  R  4.6.1.1   Provision of product take-back service
  R  4.6.2.1   Provision of rechargeable battery take-back service

4.7 Corporate performance
  R  4.7.1.1   Demonstration of corporate environmental policy consistent with ISO 14001
  R  4.7.2.1   Self-certified environmental management system for design and manufacturing organizations
  R  4.7.3.1   Corporate report consistent with Performance Track or GRI

4.8 Packaging
  R  4.8.1.1   Reduction/elimination of intentionally added toxics in packaging
  R  4.8.2.1   Separable packing materials
  R  4.8.3.1   Declaration of recycled content in packaging