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Friday, February 22nd, 2013
The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), a rating that helps identify “greener” electronics, has been expanded to include printers, copiers and other imaging equipment, EPEAT has announced.
Initially intended for PCs and displays, the EPEAT rating system was created more than six years ago and is today used by eight national governments, including the U.S., a news release indicates.
A device must meet at least 33 environmental performance criteria to be registered, and can achieve a higher rating by meeting up to 26 additional criteria, the release indicates. Rating points include the use of recycled and recyclable materials, design for recycling, energy efficiency, packaging and corporate performance.
Seven imaging equipment manufacturers currently have EPEAT-registered products: Canon, Dell,Epson, HP, Lexmark, Ricoh and Xerox. Two more – Konica Minolta and Samsung – are in the process of registering, according to the release.
“World markets will now be able to easily and reliably identify and purchase greener printers, copiers and scanners based on EPEAT ratings,” Robert Frisbee, EPEAT CEO, said in a statement. “I applaud the leadership of everyone involved with achieving this important milestone.” Original here.
Green IT Review: EPEAT green certification expands
Wednesday, February 20th, 2013
EPEAT, the green electronics rating system based on the IEEE 1680 family of Environmental Assessment Standards, has now added printers, copiers and other imaging equipment to its list of green PCs and Displays.
EPEAT stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, although now that the organisation is well established the full name is rarely used. For more than six years, EPEAT ratings have helped companies, governments and consumers compare and purchase greener PCs and monitors.
To be added to the EPEAT registry of products, an imaging device must meet at least 33 required environmental performance criteria. Products are rated Bronze, Silver or Gold depending on how many of the 26 additional optional criteria it meets.
Assessment is made on a lifecycle basis, addressing the elimination of toxic substances, the use of recycled and recyclable materials, their design for recycling, product longevity, energy efficiency, corporate performance and packaging, among other criteria. The rating criteria were developed through a consensus of representatives from the environmental, research, governmental and manufacturing sectors.
The EPEAT registry now includes imaging equipment from seven manufacturers: Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Lexmark, Ricoh and Xerox, and two others – Konica Minolta and Samsung – have begun the process of registering products. These nine manufacturers represent at least 80% of the global market for copiers, printers, scanners and multifunction devices.
The potential impact of this extension to imaging products is clear from EPEAT’s success to date with PCs and displays…. Full article here.
E-Scrap News: EPEAT Now includes printers and copiers
Friday, February 15th, 2013
The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), a global registry for greener electronics, has expanded to include printers, copiers and other imaging equipment.
The registry’s initial focus has been on PCs and displays and has been used by companies, government entities and consumers to make more environmentally-friendly decisions when purchasing electronics. Included in the criteria considered when adding a product to the registry is the use of recycled and recyclable materials, a product’s design for recycling, product longevity and other factors.
The EPEAT registry now includes imaging equipment from seven manufacturers: Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Lexmark, Ricoh and Xerox. Two additional manufacturers, Konica Minolta and Samsung, have begun the process of registering products with EPEAT. According to EPEAT, the nine manufacturers represent at least 80 percent of the global market for copiers, printers, scanners and multifunction devices.
“Increasingly, people want to purchase products that have strong environmental attributes, and EPEAT does a nice job of summarizing those attributes in PCs, monitors, and now printers, copiers and scanners,” said Judy Glazer, Senior Director of HP’s Printing and Personal Systems Social and Environmental Responsibility Organization, in a prepared statement.
To be added to the EPEAT registry, an imaging device must meet at least 33 required environmental performance criteria. Products may achieve higher ratings by meeting up to 26 additional optional criteria. The rating criteria were developed during a four-year stakeholder consensus process that involved hundreds of representatives from the environmental, research, governmental and manufacturing sectors. Link to original article here.
Guardian: EPEAT One of 2012′s Major Environmental Stories
Friday, January 4th, 2013
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4. Don’t underestimate consumer power in enforcing corporate sustainability: Apple u-turns on EPEAT after public criticism
Last year once again revealed the power of consumers, supercharged by social media, to hold even the biggest, most powerful brands to account.
In July, Apple announced that it would no longer register its products withEPEAT, the Electrical Products Environmental Assessment Tool – assumed to be linked to its new products being unlikely to meet EPEAT criteria. The decision prompted a ban of Apple products by San Francisco procurement city officials. On the face of it, with local officials spending a mere $45,579 on Apple technologies, a boycott represented a drop in the ocean compared to $65bn in annual sales, and Apple stood its ground.
But the company misunderstood the statement they were making by ditching EPEAT certification – which many took as a sign that Apple was parting ways with green principles.
The ensuing backlash was huge and, although green groups such as Greenpeace added to the frenzy, was markedly consumer-driven.
After just three days, the company was forced into an embarrassing u-turn, citing the disappointment of “many loyal Apple customers” as critical to correcting their “mistake” and getting back on to the register.
If brands take one moral from the story for next year it should be that consumers do care about sustainability, and they are more than prepared to say so directly.
ZDNet: Sales of EPEAT registered products grew 30% in 2011
Tuesday, November 27th, 2012
Is your organization using EPEAT (aka the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) to gauge the toxicity or energy efficiency of the technology it buys?
If so, you have helped eliminate the use of enough mercury to fill more than 1 million household fever thermometers.
If that stat doesn’t impress you, how about this one: You have helped avoid the disposal of close to 74,100 metric tons of hazardous waste – roughly the equivalent of seven Eiffel Towers.
The environmental benefits of EPEAT-rated technology is further explored in the organization’s latest annual report, which shows that sales of EPEAT-registered products grew more than 30 percent in 2011 (the last period for which full-year figures were available) Full article
Earth Techling: Demand for EPEAT’s ‘greener’ electronics up almost 30 percent
Tuesday, November 20th, 2012
America is on the brink of one of the biggest shopping days of the year. While many of us look for creative ways to avoid this rampant consumption, the fact remains that a large portion of technology purchases are made during the holidays. While we may not be able to eliminate this shopping frenzy entirely, there are ways to reduce its negative impact on our planet.
EPEAT, one of the largest global registries for greener electronics, recently released its 6th annual report detailing the benefit of purchasing products that meet its strict environmental criteria. Results showed that demand for EPEAT rated products, both here in the U.S. and around the world, continues to grow, resulting in a significant reduction of hazardous solid waste and energy consumption. More
Green IT Review: EPEAT green IT sales grow by 30% in a year
Monday, November 19th, 2012
In 2011, sales of EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) registered ‘greener’ electronics products increased by almost 30% to 120 million. The environmental benefits of over conventional products resulted in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1.6 million US cars off the road for a year, cutting out the use of mercury equivalent to over a million thermometers, and reducing solid waste by more than 50,000 metric tons, equal to more than 75,000 US households’ annual trash.
EPEAT is the green electronics rating system based on the IEEE 1680 family of Environmental Assessment Standards. The programme evaluates computer desktops, laptops and monitors on 51 environmental criteria (including compliance with Energy Star efficiency specifications) and awards EPEAT Bronze, Silver or Gold certification. The organisation’s product registry lets purchasers view and compare the specific environmental performance of registered products from all participating manufacturers.
EPEAT now covers 41 countries, 45 participating manufacturers and more than 3,600 environmentally preferable electronic products. International sales of certified products grew by 40% in 2011, particularly in Europe, Asia and Latin America, compared with 23% growth in the US, which still constitutes over half of the global total. Full article
EPEAT 2011 Report Reveals Growing Global Sales and Benefits
Wednesday, November 14th, 2012
In 2011, unit sales of EPEAT registered ‘greener’ electronics increased by almost 30 percent over 2010 sales – to more than 120 million. Environmental benefits of these products over conventional products include solid waste reduction equal to more than 75,000 US households’ annual trash, mercury elimination equivalent to over a million fever thermometers, greenhouse gas reductions equal to taking 1.6 million US cars off the road for a year.
Portland, OR, November 14, 2012 –In 2011, more than 120 million EPEAT® registered products were sold in 42 covered countries – a nearly 30% increase over 2010 sales. The definitive environmental rating system for electronics (www.epeat.net), EPEAT today released its sixth annual Environmental Benefits Report, containing these and other insights.
Other specific trends in EPEAT’s 2011 growth:
International unit sales of EPEAT rated electronics grew by 40 percent in 2011, with purchasers in Europe, Asia and Latin America increasingly selecting EPEAT registered PC and Display products. Sales of EPEAT products in the US grew by 23 percent – with US unit sales just over 50% of the 2011 global total. In addition, the number of unique products registered in the system grew by 800, from 2830 to 3671.
“EPEAT’s credibility, stringency and ease of use continues to attract new users and increase market share,” said Robert Frisbee, CEO of EPEAT. “With more EPEAT registered products than ever before, new product types coming into the system and more purchasers around the world using EPEAT to select greener electronics, the environmental benefits are dramatic.”
Over their lifetime, compared to products that do not meet EPEAT criteria, EPEAT registered products purchased in 2011 will:
- Eliminate use of enough mercury to fill 1,007,761 household mercury fever thermometers.
- Reduce use of toxic materials, including mercury, by 1,381 metric tons, equivalent to the weight of 266 elephants.
- Eliminate the equivalent of more than 76,262 US households’ annual solid waste—50,976 metric tons
- Avoid the disposal of 74,082 metric tons of hazardous waste, equivalent to the weight of 7 Eiffel Towers.
Because EPEAT registered products must meet the latest ENERGY STAR efficiency specifications, these products will consume less energy throughout their useful life, resulting in:
- Savings of over 12 billion kWh of electricity—enough to power 963,716 US homes for a year.
- Avoidance of 9 million metric tons of air emissions (including greenhouse gas emissions) and over 77 thousand metric tons of water pollutant emissions.
- Reduction of over 2.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions— equivalent to taking nearly 1.6 million US passenger cars off the road for a year.
All products registered in EPEAT meet strict environmental criteria that promote easier recycling, reduced energy consumption, longer product life and reduced toxicity. EPEAT’s central product registry allows purchasers to view and compare the specific environmental performance of registered products from all participating manufacturers. The system’s head to head competition drives manufacturers to innovate and qualify products at higher levels of environmental excellence.
EPEAT registration will expand very soon to cover Imaging Equipment (printers, copiers, fax and multifunction devices, mailing machines and digital duplicators) and Televisions. Standards for these product categories were finalized in 2012 and registries will open to the public early in 2013. Development of a new server standard is underway and the existing PC/ Display standard will undergo an update in the coming year.
See EPEAT’s 2011 Environmental Benefits Report, the report Executive Summary and an Infographic summarizing the findings here .
Verification Round 2012-06 Launched
Thursday, October 25th, 2012
The sixth verification round of 2012 has been launched. This round will address a randomly selected group of 110 products / criteria. All active Subscribers, countries and criteria will be included in the selection pool.
Link to Verification Round Plan 2012-06.
Green Biz: Why EPEAT approved the MacBook Pro despite recycling concerns
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012
Everything Apple does makes headlines.
That statement, of course, is about as unsurprising as can be. The once-scrappy underdog from Cupertino, Calif. — now the country’s most valuable company, ever – has long made tidal-sized waves with its innovative products, its visionary founder and the strength of its reality distortion field.
Love it or hate it, Apple inspires strong feelings.
The past three months have shown in new ways how those feelings apply to Apple’s sustainability efforts. In brief: In July Apple abruptly abandoned EPEAT. Uproar ensued. Apple abruptly reversed course. Sustainability-minded folks crowed.
Then, Apple released new hardware, including a MacBook Pro that included glued-in batteries, not-upgradeable RAM and disk drives, and a “completely fused” display, according to a teardown from iFixit, which earned Apple the lowest possible score for repairability.
More uproar ensued. EPEAT investigated, determining that the MacBook Pro and four other devices from Lenovo, Samsung and Toshiba met the EPEAT standard. Critics roared.
The story has made the rounds of several news cycles, generally traveling along the lines of “EPEAT caved to Apple on MacBook Pro” — led by a Wired op-ed by iFixit’s CEO in the wake of EPEAT’s announcement and iFixit’s damning review of the new MacBook Pro.
I will admit to being skeptical when the news came out about the MacBook Pro staying in the EPEAT registry: I’d read the iFixit teardown with concern, and wondered if any organization could withstand the full force of the reality distortion field. To get a look behind the scenes of the dustup, I spoke at length last week with EPEAT’s director of communications, Sarah O’Brien.
Full story here