Three manufacturers, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and CTL Corp., were recognized by the U.S. EPA for meeting the new environmentally- friendly EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) computer standard. All EPEAT-registered computers have reduced levels of cadmium, lead and mercury. They are more energy efficient and easier to upgrade and recycle.
Between these three companies, 60 products made the list including desktop computers, laptops and monitors.
"EPEAT makes it possible for purchasers to identify and buy green computers, laptops, and monitors," said James Gulliford, assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.
The three-tiered EPEAT rating system includes 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria including: EPA's Plug-In Guidelines for Materials Management, Rechargeable Battery Recycling Coalition recommendations, Coalition of North Eastern Governors Model Toxics in Packaging Legislation, European Union (EU) restriction on hazardous substances (RoHS), EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment requirements (WEEE), EU battery directives and various global environmental labeling standards.
Over the next 5 years the EPA estimates that purchases of EPEAT registered computers will result in reductions of more than 13 million pounds of hazardous waste and 3 million pounds of non-hazardous waste. It will also save around 600,000 MWh of energy -- enough to power 6 million homes.
"As part of HP's longstanding commitment to the environment, HP is particularly proud that our 32 business products on the registry met EPEAT standards without any alteration to their original design, " said Jeri Callaway, HP's North America, general manager of commercial solutions, personal systems group.
For a list of the products meet the new EPEAT "green" computer standard see the database at http://69.94.134.185/epeat/
