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EPEAT - Assessing Electronics
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to Prevent Pollution
The Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) includes two major elements:
- A set of environmental performance criteria for computers and monitors that have been adopted as an American National Standard by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) through a voluntary consensus process. The standard is IEEE 1680.
- A Web-based system that enables three things: (1) manufacturers to declare that their product(s) meet specific environmental performance criteria; (2) the verification of the accuracy of the declarations; and (3) a listing of all registered products for purchasers. The system is managed by the Green Electronics Council
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Development of the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) was prompted by a growing demand by institutional purchasers for an easy-to-use evaluation tool that allows the selection of electronic products based on environmental performance. Supported by EPA, it was developed by a multi-stakeholder group, including government, industry, non-governmental organizations and purchasers. The electronics industry has welcomed EPEAT as a tool to provide a consistent and harmonized set of environmental criteria for all purchasers and an opportunity to gain market recognition through environmental leadership.
Accomplishments
- In February 2005, EPA awarded a grant to the Green Electronics Council to: (1) register products as meeting the IEEE American National Standard 1680 for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products; and (2) market the list of "EPEAT registered" products to purchasers and manage an after-market vendor claim certification program.
- In March 2006, the IEEE Standards Advisory Board formally approved the IEEE American National Standard 1680 for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products.
- In March 2006, EPEAT was integrated into information technology contracts totaling $21.68 billion, including one of EPA's large IT contracts.
- In April 2006, The IEEE 1680 American National Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products became final and publicly available.
- On July 24, 2006, a website housing all vendor self declarations that their products meet EPEAT criteria became available for institutional purchasers to access.
- As of December 2006, approximately 300 products manufactured by 13 manufacturers (Apple, CTL Corporation, Dell, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Mind Computer Products, NEC Display Solutions, Northern Micro, Panasonic, Sona Computer, Sony Corporation, and Toshiba) were EPEAT registered and listed on the EPEAT Product Registry Web page located at www.epeat.net.
- As of December 2006, EPEAT has been integrated into IT "requests for proposals" and contracts totaling more than $42 billion dollars.