Apple Withdraws Its Products From EPEAT Registry

Apple has informed EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) that it is pulling its products from the registry of this organization and will not be registering its products in the system for environmental rating. CEO of EPEAT Robert Frisbee said to CIO Journal:

“They said their design direction was no longer consistent with the EPEAT requirements,” Frisbee said. The company did not elaborate, Frisbee said. “They were important supporters and we are disappointed that they don’t want their products measured by this standard anymore.”

EPEAT rating system is based on certain standards requiring that products be designed to minimize environmental harm and can be easily disassemble with the use of common tools in order to remove toxic components. Apple’s recent Mac computers such as MacBook Pro with Retina display are difficult to disassemble, which makes them ineligible for EPEAT certification. iFixit noted:

According to my EPEAT contacts, Apple’s mobile design direction is in conflict with the intended direction of the standard. Specifically, the standard lays out particular requirements for product “disassemble-ability,” a very important consideration for recycling: External enclosures, chassis, and electronic subassemblies shall be removable with commonly available tools or by hand.”

This move could result in financial losses for Apple, as many corporations require that computers be EPEAT certified. U.S. government also requires that 95 percent of purchased devices be EPEAT certified.

However this move does not appear to affect sales of Apple’s iPad and iPhone, as these devices currently fall within class of products that are not certified by EPEAT.