EPEAT – rePEAT

Apple will eingesehen haben, dass es ein Fehler war, Produkte nicht mehr mit dem Umweltsiegel EPEAT auszuzeichnen. In der vergangenen Woche verlies Apple die EPEAT-Datenbank. Jetzt ist Apple bei epeat.net wieder aufgeführt.
Allerdings bleibt die Diskussion kontrovers, weil Apple zum Beispiel im neuen MacBook Pro Retina Metall mit Glas und Akkus auf Metall klebt. Normen von EPEAT sehen vor, dass sich Materialien leicht – ohne Werkzeuge und Kraft – voneinander trennen lassen sollten. Die Kehrtwende von Apple in Sachen Umweltsiegel beschädigt dieses, weil sich Hersteller wohl selbständig mit der Auszeichnung ausstatten können. Dabei haben Umweltsiegel auch Auswirkungen auf Kaufentscheidungen. Letzte Woche hatte die Stadtverwaltung
San Francisco sofort verkündet, Computer von Apple von den Einkaufslisten zu nehmen. EPEAT möchte sich jetzt alle Einstufungen von Ultra-Books anschauen.

Um die Scherben zu kitten, wendet sich der scheidende Hardware-Manager Bob Mancfield an die Kundschaft – es folgt der offene Brief im Wortlaut:

We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT.

It’s important to know that our commitment to protecting the environment has never changed, and today it is as strong as ever. Apple makes the most environmentally responsible products in our industry. In fact, our engineering teams have worked incredibly hard over the years to make our products even more environmentally friendly, and much of our progress has come in areas not yet measured by EPEAT.

For example, Apple led the industry in removing harmful toxins such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). We are the only company to comprehensively report greenhouse gas emissions for every product we make, taking into account the entire product lifecycle. And we’ve removed plastics wherever possible, in favor of materials that are more highly recyclable, more durable, more efficient and longer lasting.

Perhaps most importantly, we make the most energy-efficient computers in the world and our entire product line exceeds the stringent ENERGY STAR 5.2 government standard. No one else in our industry can make that claim.

We think the IEEE 1680.1 standard could be a much stronger force for protecting the environment if it were upgraded to include advancements like these. This standard, on which the EPEAT rating system is based, is an important measuring stick for our industry and its products.

Our relationship with EPEAT has become stronger as a result of this experience, and we look forward to working with EPEAT as their rating system and the underlying IEEE 1680.1 standard evolve. Our team at Apple is dedicated to designing products that everyone can be proud to own and use.

Bob