Apple has removed the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) certification from 39 of their product lines, including displays and computers. The Wall Street Journal quotes Robert Frisbee, CEO of EPEAT:
?[Apple] 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.?
The general assumption seems to be that with products like the new iPad and the Retina MacBook Air, Apple's design and manufacturing process is emphasizing thinness and lightness over recyclability and repairability. This may or may not matter to consumers, who are increasingly faced with disposable, appliance-like consumer electronics. However, some private and public organizations require EPEAT certification for bulk purposes. Would they bend or break their own rules just to get Apple products on the floor?
iMore's Ally Kazmucha, who also operates iOS device repair shop, PXLFIX, has previously taken issue with Apple's increasing divergence from repairable technology, as has iFixit's Kyle Wiens writing for Wired, and Richard Gaywood at TUAW.
These certifications are only part of the typical environmental checklist Apple presents during new product announcements. Whether Apple decides they're important enough to go with a different certification, to create their own, or ultimately to blaze ahead with no particular environmental certification remains to be seen.
iPhones and iPads aren't certifiable under EPEAT to date, and they've done spectacularly well on the market anyway. Would lack of EPEAT certification stop you from buying any other Apple products?
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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