Apple Responds About EPEAT Green Electronics Certification Withdrawal

Several days ago, Apple made public its decision to remove green electronics certification issued by the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) from its products. Now, the tech company has elaborated on its move through a statement relayed to The Loop. Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet told The Loop:

Apple takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact and all of our products meet the strictest energy efficiency standards backed by the US government, Energy Star 5.2. We also lead the industry by reporting each product’s greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials.

As pointed out by The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, EPEAT also doesn't measure smartphones (e.g. iPhones) or tablets (e.g. iPads). This is consistent with Apple's apparent intention of, as our very own A.T. Faust put it, "taking a page out of the non-EPEAT-qualified iDevice book" for its desktop and laptop computers. A good case in point is the recently launched MacBook Pro with Retina display. The device has its battery glued into the casing and its glass display glued into its back. Were it submitted to EPEAT certification, it would likely not have met the set standards for disassembly and recyclability. As EPEAT board member Christine Ervin admitted last March, the standards are "a little long in the tooth." So, you can't really blame Apple for seeking an alternative green electronics certification system for the sake of its modern design philosophy. Source: The Loop

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