Portland, OR, USA, and Brussels, Belgium (PRWEB) July 01, 2013 -- The Green Electronics Council today announced that WEEELABEX, a leading European electronics recycler standard, has met the environmental requirements of EPEAT®, the definitive global rating system for greener electronics. This qualification makes it easier for manufacturers to register their electronics with EPEAT in Europe. WEEELABEX joins R2 and e-Stewards as the only recycling standards to meet the EPEAT requirements for responsible recycling of electronics.
The EPEAT registry is available in 42 countries worldwide and currently includes three product categories: PCs and Displays, Televisions, and Imaging Equipment (printers, copiers, multifunction devices, etc.). Using EPEAT, purchasers in the public and private sectors can identify, compare and select environmentally preferable devices. EPEAT registration is currently available in 31 European countries, with multiple governments and enterprises requiring their purchased electronics to be registered with EPEAT.
Manufacturers who wish to register their products with EPEAT in a given country must meet dozens of environmental requirements, some of which relate to product take back and responsible recycling. WEEELABEX is a standard for responsible electronics recycling developed by the WEEE Forum, an association speaking for 39 electronics producer compliance schemes formed to enable their members to meet the WEEE regulations in Europe. This qualification of the WEEELABEX standard makes it easier for WEEE compliance schemes to gain EPEAT’s green rating for their producer clients’ products in Europe.
“WEEELABEX is an excellent recycler standard, top-of-class globally in terms of environmental outcomes and protection of worker health and safety,” said Jeff Omelchuck, Executive Director of EPEAT Registry Services. “We were pleased that our analysis found it meets the stringent requirements of the EPEAT system.”
Pascal Leroy, Secretary General of the WEEE Forum, said, “The WEEE Forum was formed to create a responsible electronics recycling system in Europe. Our members and their producer clients are very pleased that our standard was recognized as a global leader. Being able to meet EPEAT’s requirements for recycling will help our members gain the green recognition in Europe that they deserve.”
EPEAT’s original PC/Display rating system is used as an environmental requirement by eight national governments, including the United States, and is a leading green requirement in Europe. Purchase contracts that require EPEAT registration exceed $65 billion USD. More than 50 manufacturers have registered their greener PCs, monitors, copiers, printers, multifunction devices and TVs in more than 40 countries. More than 533 million EPEAT-registered products have been purchased since the registry debuted in July 2006.
Since 2006, purchasers choosing EPEAT-registered electronics over products that don’t meet the system’s criteria have eliminated greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 11 million U.S. vehicles’ annual impact, avoided more than 394,000 metric tons of hazardous waste and reduced solid waste by nearly 167,000 metric tons – equivalent to nearly 86,000 U.S. households’ annual waste.
About EPEAT
EPEAT is the definitive global registry for greener electronics. The registry includes the most products from the broadest range of manufacturers and spans the widest array of countries. EPEAT combines strict, comprehensive criteria for design, production, energy use and recycling with ongoing independent verification of manufacturer claims. More than 533 million EPEAT-registered products have been sold worldwide since 2006, resulting in significant environmental benefits. EPEAT was developed through a stakeholder consensus process and is managed by the Green Electronics Council, a non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon. Learn more at http://www.epeat.net.
About WEEE Forum
The WEEE Forum is a non-profit association speaking for 39 electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) producer compliance schemes. It was set up in the early 2000s. The 39 members are based in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Germany, Greece, France, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It is the biggest organisation of its kind in the world. In 2012, its member organisations reported collection and proper de-pollution and recycling of about 2 million tonnes of WEEE. On April 17th 2013, twenty-six compliance schemes from the WEEE Forum plus ERP and Budget Pack Environmental set up the WEEELABEX Organisation in Prague (Czech Republic) to train auditors that are familiar with WEEE processing technologies and have auditing skills, in order to allow them to conduct audits in accordance with the WEEELABEX standards. In addition, the Organisation will monitor the implementation of the standards, provide guidance to operators on how to perform internal conformity assessment, contribute to a definition of (emission or concentration) limit values and select WEEELABEX auditors on the basis of defined eligibility criteria. Learn more at http://www.weee-forum.org and http://www.weeelabex.org.
Jonas Allen, Green Electronics Council, +1-503-279-9383, [email protected]
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