Apple defends decision to withdraw from EPEAT certification

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple has spoken out in defense of its decision to remove its products from the EPEAT environmental rating program by noting that it takes a "comprehensive approach" to making environmentally-responsible products.

Kristin Huguet, a spokesperson for the Cupertino, Calif., company, provided a statement to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop on Tuesday.

?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,? she said. ?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.?

Late last week, Robert Frisbee, the newly-appointed CEO of EPEAT, which stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, revealed that Apple had asked the group to remove 39 of its products, including desktops, laptops and monitors, from its list of certified devices. The Mac maker reportedly told the executive that its "design direction" had diverged from EPEAT's requirements.

EPEAT's governing group, the Green Electronics Council, appointed Frisbee to be the organization's first-ever CEO in March. At the time, EPEAT board member Christine Ervin admitted that EPEAT certification had become "a little long in the tooth" and Frisbee would be working to update them.

Apple helped develop the EPEAT standard in its early days, but lately it has moved away from the group's requirements that products be easy to disassemble in the interest of recyclability. For instance, its new MacBook Pro with Retina Display was given a repairability score of 1 out of 10 by iFixit last month.

Apple Environment


Tuesday's statement from Apple suggests Apple felt EPEAT is too narrow in its scope because it doesn't track removal of toxic materials or energy efficiency. Dalrymple also noted in his report that EPEAT also doesn't certify smartphones or tablets, two of Apple's largest revenue streams.

Though a move away from EPEAT is unlikely to have a significant effect on Apple's sales to consumers, it could impact sales of Macs to government agencies. Federal agency purchases are required to be 95 percent EPEAT-certified. The city of San Francisco said earlier on Tuesday that it is notifying city agencies that Macs will not qualify for purchase with city funds.

Late Apple CEO Steve Jobs forged a new path for Apple in 2007 by unveiling a new environmental policy in an open letter to customers and shareholders. Jobs said that he had investigated Apple's policies and learned that the company was an industry leader in some of them, in spite of criticism from organizations like Greenpeace. The letter went on to outline initiatives to remove toxic chemicals in and dramatically increase recycling of its products.

Apple has continued to be open about its efforts to make greener products. It set up an Environment section of its website with details on the company's total carbon footprint and efforts to lessen the environmental impact of its products.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 135
    wurm5150wurm5150 Posts: 763member
    http://www.apple.com/recycling/

    I'm taking my old iMac to my neighborhood Apple Store for recycling..They're giving me a $163 gift card for my troubles.
  • Reply 2 of 135
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Doesn't matter. It won't satisfy the haters.
  • Reply 3 of 135
    This statement by Apple is just PR spin. It provides no inisight and only indicates that Apple feels its already doing enough.
    But the sheep won't care.
    I hope the education market takes note of this change and further abandons Apple.
  • Reply 4 of 135

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    Doesn't matter. It won't satisfy the haters.


     


    The post above proves your point.

  • Reply 5 of 135
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    So the board will change the certification standards to be 'able to be disassembled with common tools for the removal of batteries etc OR coming from a company that has established an internal program to disassemble units for repurposing/recycling of components and/or materials'. Then Apple will reveal their in house system for taking out the batteries and separating the glass etc (without telling the process of course) and then th will be recertified. And it will probably all be over and done by the end of the year.

    Or if EPEAT does do it, all these places that have rules about buying only EPEAT certified stuff will change their rules in a similar manner

    Crisis over
  • Reply 6 of 135


    You mean there's more to environmental responsibility than how easy it is for a Neanderthal with a screwdriver to disassemble an old laptop for recycling? No. That's the only measure of environmental responsibility. Let's hate Apple.

  • Reply 7 of 135
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    This statement by Apple is just PR spin. It provides no inisight and only indicates that Apple feels its already doing enough.
    But the sheep won't care.
    I hope the education market takes note of this change and further abandons Apple.

    Yes Apple is certainly feeling that 'further abandonment' especially with the lackluster sales and all. That's got to sting. What were they thinking? It looks like 30,000 PhDs dropped the ball on this one.
  • Reply 8 of 135


    The Mac Mini is probably their easiest product to recycle. It is one of my favorite Apple products. If only they would make it more affordable.

     

  • Reply 9 of 135
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Smallwheels View Post


    The Mac Mini is probably their easiest product to recycle. It is one of my favorite Apple products. If only they would make it more affordable.

     



    A Mac Mini is $599, that's dirt cheap. If somebody can't afford that, then maybe they should work a little harder. 

  • Reply 10 of 135
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by LizSandford View Post



    I hope the education market takes note of this change and further abandons Apple.


    I hope that Apple continues to ignore all of the haters and useless, hypocritical environmentalists out there. Apple is going to do what Apple does, and nothing that the haters do or say will change that.


     


    I'd also like to see Apple come out with a super machine that consumes crazy power and is powerful as hell. It would be an anti-green machine and it would cause green morons all over the world to lose their minds.

  • Reply 11 of 135
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    "Apple wrote:
    [" url="/t/151205/apple-defends-decision-to-withdraw-from-epeat-certification#post_2144493"]A Mac Mini is $599, that's dirt cheap. If somebody can't afford that, then maybe they should work a little harder. 

    These comments make you sound so repulsive. I don't think the majority of the world's population make that much in a year, much less have that much extra to spend on a luxury item, and I bet you they work a lot harder than us regulars on internet forums.
  • Reply 12 of 135
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    These comments make you sound so repulsive. I don't think the majority of the world's population make that much in a year, much less have that much extra to spend on a luxury item, and I bet you they work a lot harder than us regulars on internet forums.


    How can anybody complain about a Mac that costs $599? 


     


    Compared to what Macs cost before, that is indeed incredibly cheap and completely unheard of.


     


    And who cares about the world's population? We are of course referring to the developed world, where Apple's customers are.


     


    There are probably people who didn't even eat any food today at all, or maybe not even for a week. So what? What does that have to do with the fact that $599 for a Mac Mini is very cheap?

  • Reply 13 of 135
    cgjcgj Posts: 276member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    These comments make you sound so repulsive. I don't think the majority of the world's population make that much in a year, much less have that much extra to spend on a luxury item, and I bet you they work a lot harder than us regulars on internet forums.


     


    Hear, hear. 


     


    And while $599 is considered 'cheap' by some, I can assure people that it's not for most people. Especially when you have to add a mouse, display, keyboard etc.

  • Reply 14 of 135
    igxqrrligxqrrl Posts: 105member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    Doesn't matter. It won't satisfy the haters.


    And the true believers will swallow this statement from Apple's PR department. Hook, line, and sinker.

  • Reply 15 of 135
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    "Apple wrote:
    [" url="/t/151205/apple-defends-decision-to-withdraw-from-epeat-certification#post_2144493"]A Mac Mini is $599, that's dirt cheap. If somebody can't afford that, then maybe they should work a little harder. 

    Why are all your replies so politically charged? Apparently you are oblivious to the world around you. Everything you write seems to be centered on your extreme self righteousness. You remind me of a NY banker walking down the street who tells a disabled beggar to get a job instead of donating a quarter.

    I just IM'd Instant Karma he's coming to get you.
  • Reply 16 of 135
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by CGJ View Post


    And while $599 is considered 'cheap' by some, I can assure people that it's not for most people. Especially when you have to add a mouse, display, keyboard etc.



    Quite a few people already have those things lying around.


     


    And even if somebody doesn't, and they have to buy those things, it's still pretty cheap. Have you seen the prices for monitors lately? They're practically giving them away.

  • Reply 17 of 135
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post





    Why are all your replies so politically charged? Apparently you are oblivious to the world around you. Everything you write seems to be centered on your extreme self righteousness. You remind me of a NY banker walking down the street who tells a disabled beggar to get a job instead of donating a quarter.

    I just IM'd Instant Karma he's coming to get you.


    It has nothing to do with politics. I've followed Apple for a long time, and I bet that most people never thought that they'd ever release a machine that was that cheap.


     


    I can understand people saying that $4,000 - $5,000 is not too affordable, but $599 does not fall into that category. I don't want Apple's products to get too cheap, because then they're going to start skimping on features and quality, like everybody else does. If somebody can't afford a Mac, then too bad, either start saving up, or buy some bottom of the barrel PC. You get what you pay for.

  • Reply 18 of 135

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    How can anybody complain about a Mac that costs $599? 


     


    Compared to what Macs cost before, that is indeed incredibly cheap and completely unheard of.


     


    And who cares about the world's population? We are of course referring to the developed world, where Apple's customers are.


     


    There are probably people who didn't even eat any food today at all, or maybe not even for a week. So what? What does that have to do with the fact that $599 for a Mac Mini is very cheap?



     


     


    There always people, who type the first thoughts that come into their brain and pretty much look like a dick! You focus on me me me and you will have Karma come back and bite you royally.
  • Reply 19 of 135
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post



    You remind me of a NY banker walking down the street who tells a disabled beggar to get a job instead of donating a quarter.


     


    You should never give any money to beggars. It's also illegal to do so in certain places. I don't give a dime to any beggars ever, no matter what.

  • Reply 20 of 135
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    "Apple wrote:
    [" url="/t/151205/apple-defends-decision-to-withdraw-from-epeat-certification#post_2144521"]
    You should never give any money to beggars. It's also illegal to do so in certain places. I don't give a dime to any beggars ever, no matter what.

    I, like everyone else here will spend my money as I see fit and suffer the consequences if I get arrested for aiding a panhandler. I can afford the bail.
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