EPEAT Program Guidelines

Transcription

1 EPEAT Program Guidelines Published 8 January 2015 By The Green Electronics Council EPEAT Program Guidelines 1

2 Context This EPEAT Program Guidelines document is part of a set of documents that describe the EPEAT green electronics product registration system or scheme. It is the most general document of the set. For more detail please refer to the appropriate document. EPEAT Program Guidelines EPEAT Standards Development EPEAT Product Registration System EPEAT Promotion and Messaging EPEAT Requirements of Manufacturers EPEAT Requirements of PREs ISO EPEAT Program Guidelines 2

3 Contents Context Introduction Changes from previous version General Program Information Program Overview Authority and Governance Roles and Functions Product Environmental Performance Standards in EPEAT Required and Optional Criteria Product Ratings: EPEAT Bronze, Silver and Gold Product Criteria and Corporate Criteria Geographic Applicability of EPEAT Product Registration and the EPEAT Registry The EPEAT Product Registration System Selection and Oversight of PREs Desk Review Verification Use of EPEAT Name and Marks The EPEAT Name and Marks Monitoring and Enforcement of Proper Use of Marks Appropriate Messaging Related to EPEAT and Green Electronics Measuring Program Effectiveness EPEAT Environmental Benefits Calculator Sales Reporting and Annual Environmental Benefits Report For More Information EPEAT Program Guidelines 3

4 1 Introduction EPEAT is a comprehensive environmental rating system that helps purchasers identify greener electronic equipment. These EPEAT Program Guidelines provide guidance and general information about EPEAT and are intended to be a roadmap for navigating various aspects of EPEAT. These EPEAT Program Guidelines are also one of the controlling documents for EPEAT, along with the following: EPEAT Product Registration System EPEAT Requirements of PREs EPEAT Requirements of Manufacturers (coming soon) 1.1 Changes from previous version This is an update to the original document dated November 19, The updates were intended to apply more consistent formatting and wording to the set of documents and are not intended to be substantive changes. 2 General Program Information 2.1 Program Overview Electronic products are responsible for many significant advances to our quality of life in the last hundred years. Yet, the environmental and public health impacts of electronic products are significant and span the entire product life-cycle from extraction of resources, through manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. Though these global impacts are substantial there are few ways to differentiate products on their environmental attributes at their time of purchase. EPEAT is a comprehensive registration program that helps purchasers identify electronic products that have superior environmental performance and helps manufacturers gain market recognition for reducing the environmental and public health impacts of their products. 2.2 Authority and Governance EPEAT was developed by a broad group of diverse stakeholders representing product manufacturers, component suppliers, environmental advocacy organizations, government representatives, large purchasers of electronics, retailers, electronics recyclers, academic researchers and others. The development and start-up of EPEAT were supported by cooperative agreements from the US EPA. In 2005 the Green Electronics Council was selected in a competitive bid process to manage EPEAT. EPEAT is now managed by, and operates under the authority of, the Green Electronics Council (GEC), an independent not-for-profit corporation based in Portland, Oregon, USA. GEC serves the public interest by making the EPEAT program and its other programs and activities available to the global public without charge. GEC is overseen by a fiduciary board of directors. EPEAT is a program of GEC, and EPEAT staff are employees of GEC. EPEAT Program Guidelines 4

5 Because the activities of EPEAT impact the interests of many stakeholders, EPEAT maintains an Advisory Council that is comprised of a balanced representation of different stakeholder perspectives, to provide advice to the GEC board and management regarding the EPEAT program. Reference EPEAT Advisory Council Governance Policy 2.3 Roles and Functions In order to achieve its mission GEC supports the following key operational roles related to EPEAT which are discussed in more detail below: Setting the standards that define environmental performance leadership criteria for different types of electronic products. Certifying products to the standards, thus creating the EPEAT registry of greener electronics. GEC also supports the following supporting roles related to EPEAT: Promoting the use of EPEAT as a sound way to identify greener electronics. Researching the environmental impacts of electronics, and ways to reduce them. Educating stakeholders and the public on the environmental impact of electronics and what they can do to help reduce it. Evaluating the effectiveness of EPEAT in achieving its mission. To fulfill these roles and functions, GEC establishes partnerships with interested stakeholders, including product manufacturers, retailers, large purchasers of electronics, technical certification bodies, standards development organizations (SDOs), and other organizations. The nature of these partnerships and the roles these partners play are described below. 3 Product Environmental Performance Standards in EPEAT In order for EPEAT registration to apply to a type of product, the standard that establishes the environmental performance leadership criteria for that type of product must be accepted by EPEAT and implemented in the system. GEC may evaluate and use existing standards and, in cases where no suitable standard exists, GEC may support the development of a new standard. Reference Policy on Qualification of Standards for EPEAT Standards that are implemented in EPEAT are developed in formal voluntary consensus processes. All standards implemented in EPEAT to date have been developed within Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) that are accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This assures that the standards achieve EPEAT s policy requirements of balanced and open participation and that no party, including GEC, dominates the process. The standards implemented in EPEAT must be leadership standards which only products with the highest environmental performance on the market can meet at the time of publication of the standards, and they must address the environmental impacts from the full life-cycle of the product, from extraction EPEAT Program Guidelines 5

6 of resources through manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. The standards are intended to be comprehensive and must address impacts in at least the following categories of environmental performance: reduction or elimination of environmentally sensitive materials, selection of environmentally preferable materials, design for end of life, life cycle extension, energy conservation, end-of-life management, corporate performance and product packaging. To date the following standards have been implemented in EPEAT, providing for registration of the identified types of products: The IEEE Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products The IEEE Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Imaging Equipment The IEEE Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Televisions 3.1 Required and Optional Criteria Each criterion of standards implemented in EPEAT is identified as being either Required (or Prerequisite) or Optional. Required criteria must be met in order for a product to be EPEAT registered. Optional criteria represent higher levels of environmental leadership and may be met in order to achieve a higher rating. 3.2 Product Ratings: EPEAT Bronze, Silver and Gold The EPEAT system was developed to recognize three levels of environmental performance: EPEAT Bronze, Silver and Gold. This multi-tier rating recognizes the leading products and also provides manufacturers with increased recognition and incentive for achieving higher levels of performance. The product rating (B/S/G) is determined as follows: EPEAT Bronze rated products meet all the Required criteria EPEAT Silver rated products meet all the Required criteria and 50% of the Optional criteria EPEAT Gold rated products meet all the Required criteria plus 75% of the Optional criteria Thus, manufacturers may choose different criteria to focus on in order to achieve higher ratings, and different products with the same rating (i.e. EPEAT Gold) may meet different optional criteria. 3.3 Product Criteria and Corporate Criteria Specific criteria of standards implemented in EPEAT may relate either to the individual product, or may relate to the manufacturer. This distinction is identified in the criteria. Product criteria apply to the specific product, and corporate criteria apply to all products registered by the manufacturer. 3.4 Geographic Applicability of EPEAT The standards implemented in EPEAT contain criteria related to the product itself and to services that the manufacturer may provide that affect the environmental performance of the product, such as recycling services. Most of the requirements of standards implemented in EPEAT must be met equally in all countries (i.e. most criteria that relate to product content), but some criteria may be met in some EPEAT Program Guidelines 6

7 countries and not others. For example, a manufacturer may offer packaging take-back services in some countries and not others. The geographic applicability of each criterion is identified in the criterion. In order to maintain accurate communication to purchasers and the public, EPEAT maintains different product registries for different countries. Each country registry contains only products that are sold in that country, and reflects the environmental characteristics of the products sold there. Because some criteria might be met only in some countries, the product ratings (Gold/Silver/Bronze) may differ slightly by country. In order to maintain accurate communications to purchasers in each country, EPEAT s requirements for use of the EPEAT name and marks requires that manufacturers make statements that are correct and appropriate in the country in which they are made. 4 Product Registration and the EPEAT Registry EPEAT s primary purpose is to make available the EPEAT registry of environmentally preferred electronics at The registry is the list of products that are registered in the EPEAT system to standards that are implemented in the system. The EPEAT registry is populated by manufacturers voluntarily registering their products. Manufacturers formally participate in EPEAT by signing a License and Subscriber Agreement and paying the appropriate fee, and by contracting with one or more EPEAT approved Product Registration Entities (PREs). EPEAT maintains a list of approved PREs and their contact information on the EPEAT website. Once contracted, a PRE will make available to the manufacturer a secure portal to the EPEAT product registry database. The manufacturer then uses the portal to declare to the PRE the product s conformance to each criterion of the applicable product standard. A manufacturer s initial declarations are reviewed by the PRE, and on their approval are included in the public registry. Those detailed declarations to each criterion are available to the public in the database. The EPEAT Bronze, Silver and Gold ratings are calculated by the database software based on the criteria that the manufacturer claims for that product. 4.1 The EPEAT Product Registration System EPEAT operates a Conformity Assurance (CA) Program to ensure the on-going accuracy of the declarations in the registry and thereby maintain the credibility of EPEAT as a resource for purchasers. Reference The EPEAT Product Registration System The CA Program has three primary processes to ensure the accuracy of declarations in the database Selection and Oversight of PREs, Desk Review, and Verification Selection and Oversight of PREs The first major process for ensuring the accuracy of the registry is EPEAT s selection and oversight of the PREs that must be hired by each participating manufacturer. PREs are responsible for recruiting manufacturers and supporting them to make accurate declarations. PREs are competitive in the market. i.e. EPEAT does not control the pricing of PRE services and participating manufacturers are free to choose their PRE. EPEAT Program Guidelines 7

8 In order to ensure a consistent, credible, and rigorous conformity assurance program, EPEAT has established formal eligibility requirements that must be met for organizations to be approved as PREs, on-going requirements that must be met continuously, an audit process to assure that the requirements are met, processes for PREs to correct identified discrepancies, and processes for EPEAT to terminate PREs that fail to meet requirements. Reference EPEAT Requirements of PREs In order to maintain consistency of declarations in the registry, EPEAT maintains processes to provide guidance to all participating manufacturers, PREs, and other interested parties when questions arise about the details of conformance to standards implemented in EPEAT. Each PRE signs a contract with EPEAT that commits the PRE to follow the guidance and EPEAT Requirements of PREs. Contracts with all PREs are the same Desk Review A manufacturer s initial declarations do not appear in the public registry until they are reviewed and approved by the PRE to whom they were declared, consistent with the procedures of the EPEAT Product Registration System. This initial Desk Review of declarations ensures that the manufacturer understands the requirements of the standard, is making accurate declarations, and is prepared to demonstrate conformance when needed. When the PRE is confident that the initial declarations are accurate they will approve those declarations to appear on the public registry at which point the product is EPEAT registered. After the PRE has reviewed sufficient initial declarations of a manufacturer and is confident that the manufacturer is competent at making accurate declarations they may allow the manufacturer s declarations to appear in the public registry without review (referred to as off Desk Review ). After a manufacturer is off Desk Review they are in direct control of their product listings in the registry. They may add products, change their declarations, and remove products without review. The manufacturer s agreements with EPEAT and with their PRE obligate them to maintain accurate declarations at all times. The manufacturer is not required to notify EPEAT or their PRE when their products or processes change, but they are obligated to maintain accurate declarations. Thus, the public EPEAT registry is a dynamic and constantly changing database that accurately reflects the environmental characteristics of the products in it at all times. There is no periodic update process. The database defines the current state of product registration in real time Verification The third major process to ensure the accuracy of the registry is a rigorous surveillance program called verification. Verification tests the accuracy of specific declarations in the database on an on-going audit basis. All criteria of all products declared in all countries through all PREs are subject to verification at any time. Verification investigations are conducted without prior notice to the manufacturers, and they test the accuracy of declarations in the registry as they existed at the time the investigation began. A manufacturer may change their declarations at any time, but verification confirms that the declaration was accurate, even if it has since been changed. EPEAT Program Guidelines 8

9 Verification investigations are conducted in batches called verification rounds. Verification activities are covered by manufacturer s fees paid to EPEAT and to their PRE(s). There are no additional fees at the time of verification. EPEAT produces an annual budget and plan for verification that specifies a target number of investigations to be conducted each year, the planned number of rounds, and planned methods of investigation. The annual plans are publicly available and are posted here. EPEAT targets verification investigations, determining which criteria of which products will be investigated, and the method of investigation for each round. Investigations are targeted both randomly and for cause. In order to use Verification resources efficiently, most rounds are targeted at declarations that are at greater risk of being inaccurate. This is determined by the manufacturer s past performance, input from external parties, outlier declarations, etc. The investigations are conducted by auditors called Qualified Verifiers or QVs, working for the manufacturer s chosen PRE. At EPEAT s direction, QVs may use different methods to determine conformity. Sometimes the investigation is conducted by the QV buying a product on the open market and inspecting or testing it. More often the accuracy of the declaration is verified by the manufacturer providing evidence to the QV to demonstrate its accuracy. When the investigation is of this type the manufacturer has 30 days to provide the required evidence to prove conformance. When the investigation is complete the QV produces an Investigation Report describing the evidence collected and recommending Conformance or Nonconformance. The reports are reviewed for completeness by the PRE and forwarded to EPEAT. The Investigation Report is evaluated, and conformity is determined, by an independent Product Verification Committee, or PVC, maintained by EPEAT. The members of the PVC are contractors to EPEAT and are paid independent of their decisions. They are experts on various aspects of environmental performance of electronics and are free of conflicts of interest. Members of the PVC are identified here. The Investigation Reports do not identify the product or manufacturer being investigated to enable the PVC to determine conformity based only on the evidence collected and evaluated by the QV, blind to the specific manufacturer and product being investigated. Reference Policy on the Product Verification Committee If a manufacturer is found to have made an inaccurate declaration they are required to promptly correct the situation. They may do this by changing the declaration in the registry, by promptly correcting the underlying process or problem, or by removing the product from the registry. If they do not promptly take one of these actions EPEAT will remove the product from the registry. Thus, at the end of each round of verification all nonconformances have been resolved and the registry contains no known accuracies. In order to maintain public confidence in EPEAT, verification processes and results are transparent. The plan for each round of verification is published (after the state of the registry has been recorded), and the results of each round are published in a Verification Outcomes Report that identifies the manufacturers and products that received nonconformances and what action was taken to restore the accuracy of the registry. The Verification Round Plans and Verification Outcomes Reports are posted EPEAT Program Guidelines 9

10 here. This public disclosure of the results is a major incentive for the participating manufacturers to maintain accurate declarations. 5 Use of EPEAT Name and Marks 5.1 The EPEAT Name and Marks Manufacturers that participate in EPEAT have a license to use the EPEAT name and marks to promote the environmental preferability of their products. Reference EPEAT License and Subscriber Agreement Manufacturers are not required to use the name and marks on products or packaging. A product s status in the registry defines a manufacturer s ability to provide EPEAT registered products in real time. By searching the registry, purchasers and the public can ascertain a product s registration status at any time. The EPEAT certification marks are shown below: 5.2 Monitoring and Enforcement of Proper Use of Marks The EPEAT name and marks are registered in the US by the Green Electronics Council and are being secured in a growing number of countries worldwide. EPEAT licenses the use of the EPEAT name and marks only through formal license agreements. EPEAT is responsible for monitoring appropriate use of the EPEAT name and marks globally and for prosecuting offenders. EPEAT s agreement with PREs requires the PRE to report to EPEAT any observed inappropriate use. Reference Proper use of the EPEAT name and Marks 5.3 Appropriate Messaging Related to EPEAT and Green Electronics Many countries around the world have requirements for how manufacturers and others may communicate the environmental characteristics of their products. EPEAT recommends that manufacturers and others consult legal counsel as they promote their products to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations. EPEAT Program Guidelines 10

11 EPEAT also offers guidance on how to describe EPEAT and the greenness of EPEAT registered products. Reference EPEAT Messaging Guidelines 6 Measuring Program Effectiveness 6.1 EPEAT Environmental Benefits Calculator The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a computer tool to evaluate the benefits that accrue as a result of the purchase of EPEAT registered products. The tool is available to the global public at no cost. Reference EPEAT Environmental Benefits Calculator The tool compares the purchase of a user specified number of EPEAT registered products to the same number of a conventional product, and applies a life-cycle approach to estimate the benefits to the environment that accrue from that purchase decision. This tool can also be used by manufacturers, retailers or resellers to gauge the impact of selling EPEAT registered products. 6.2 Sales Reporting and Annual Environmental Benefits Report EPEAT requires that participating manufacturers report their annual sales of EPEAT registered products in each country covered in EPEAT. By combining these global sales figures EPEAT is able to obtain the global annual sales of EPEAT registered products. By entering this sales data into the EPEAT Environmental Benefits Calculator EPEAT can estimate the environmental benefits of the sale or purchase of EPEAT registered products. EPEAT reports this data publicly by country and globally each year. Past reports can be found here. 7 For More Information Contact the Green Electronics Council at: Green Electronics Council 227 SW Pine St., Suite 300 Portland, OR USA Main phone: (503) EPEAT Program Guidelines 11