EPEAT Driving Major Environmental Benefits

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Yesterday, the Green Electronics GEClogo_2color-5-72Council  released annual statistics related to EPEAT-registered products sold in 2007.  EPEAT (or the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) addresses several environmental categories, including reduction and elimination of environmentally-sensitive materials, design for recycling, product longevity, energy efficiency, end-of-life management and packaging. A few statistics worth noting:

  • EPEAT-registered products sold in 2007 will reduce use of primary materials by 75.5 million metric tons, equivalent to the weight of more than 585 million refrigerators.
  • Reduce use of toxic materials, including mercury, by 3,220 metric tons, equivalent to the weight of 1.6 million bricks.
  • Eliminate use of enough mercury to fill 482,381 household fever thermometers.
  • Avoid the disposal of 124,000 metric tons of hazardous waste, equivalent to the weight of 62 million bricks.

EPEAT’s requirement that products meet Energy Star 4.0 will result in savings of 42.2 billion kWh of electricity —  enough to power 3.7 million U.S. homes for a year.

Dell was instrumental in helping to develop EPEAT and was first to list an EPEAT Gold notebook last year (we currently list a growing number of products so institutional customers can compare and contrast environmentally-responsible IT solutions). The success of the tool reinforces the value need for consistent and transparent environmental standards that help customers achieve their own environmental goals.

Feel free to share your thoughts/comments on ways we can continue to drive these tools and standards. Working together, we’ll make a world of difference!

About the Author: Todd D

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