June 25, 2008—The Green Electronics Council has released its annual figures for the environmental improvements resulting from the purchase of EPEAT-registered products worldwide in 2007. EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) is the environmental rating system for computers implemented by the Green Electronics Council that was developed in a multi-year stakeholder process supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
With unit sales figures reflecting a 150% increase in the annualized purchase of EPEAT products over 2006, when the EPEAT system was first introduced, the total environmental and cost benefits due to 2007 EPEAT purchasing are very significant, notes the Council.
Sales of EPEAT-registered products worldwide in 2007 totaled more than 109 million individual units. Growth of EPEAT qualified products’ market share has been rapid for example, EPEAT desktop and laptop sales constituted more than 22 percent of total worldwide units shipped in 2007, compared with around 10% in 2006. The lifecycle environmental benefit of those purchases, compared to the purchase of conventional products, is huge, says the Council.
Compared with products that do not meet the system’s criteria, 2007 purchases of EPEAT-registered laptops, desktops, and monitors will: reduce use of primary materials by 75.5 million metric tons; reduce use of toxic materials, including mercury, by 3,220 metric tons; eliminate use of enough mercury to fill 482,381 household fever thermometers; and avoid disposal of 124,000 metric tons of hazardous waste.
The full EPEAT 2007 Environmental Benefits report is available on the EPEAT Web site.
