Image above from EPEAT Registry. (z.d.). EPEAT Registry.
EPEAT® is the premier global ecolabel for electronics and technology products.
As a Type 1 ecolabel managed by the Global Electronics Council, EPEAT is based on criteria that evolve as sustainability evolves – measuring the social and environmental impacts of products from extraction to end of life. EPEAT drives change at a global scale – one product at a time.
Usage
EPEAT actually has three different certifications for different product types: PCs and displays (IEEE 1680.1), imaging equipment (IEEE 1680.2), and televisions (IEEE 1680.3). The PCs and displays version is a checklist of many points in eight categories:
- Reduction/elimination of environmentally sensitive materials
- Materials selection
- Design for end of life
- Product longevity/life-cycle extension
- Energy conservation
- End of life management
- Corporate performance
- Packaging
Technically this scorecard only applies to computers and monitors, but can also be used to guide design of other consumer electronics. For a full list of criteria, showing which are required and which are optional for EPEAT certification, see the EPEAT website.
Benefits
- EPEAT certification can act both as a design guide and a metric to measure the sustainability of your product design.
- It is a simple checklist of aspects to consider in product development.
- It is widely used for labelling in industry, mostly in US electronics industries.
Limitations/Risks
- Because EPEAT is just a checklist, it does not give you quantitative assessments like LCA, so it is not as good for setting top priorities or deciding between design options.
- EPEAT has different checklists for different product categories, so it does not apply universally to any product type.