In response to all of the buzz associated with Apple's recent resignation from and reuniting with Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), the organization is developing a review of ultra-thin and light laptops that are EPEAT certified.
EPEAT, which allows consumers to evaluate the environmental impact of a particular product, is launching the review in order to make sure that products that claim to be EPEAT certified are following the guidelines for that rating.
Last week,
Apple withdrew the EPEAT Gold rating from 39 of its monitors, laptops, desktop computers and older versions of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. While it still remains unclear as to why Apple did this, it was rumored that Apple likely surrendered the rating because of the Retina MacBook Pro's inability to be repaired or recycled. The batteries are glued to the bottom and the glass is fused to the top of the case, making recycling or repairs impossible.
Many of Apple's largest customers like Ford and HSBC as well as government agencies require EPEAT certification on their devices. The city of San Francisco even announced that its municipalities would no longer fund the use of Apple products in city offices. There are approximately 50 city agencies.
After all of the attention the EPEAT/Apple fiasco received, EPEAT has now decided to conduct a review of all EPEAT certified ultra-thin and light laptops. The idea is to look at other thin and light laptops like the Retina MacBook Pro and make sure they are made in such a way that repairs and recycling is possible.
"A lot of good questions have been raised," said Sarah O'Brien, director of outreach and communications for EPEAT. "As a result, we've launched surveillance of the whole group of ultra-light laptops."
The main question at hand is whether this group of laptops follow Section 4.3.1.7 of EPEAT's criteria, which states, "All covered products should not contain molded-in or glued-in metal inserts in plastic enclosures unless they are easy to remove."
Some are still arguing that Apple's Retina MacBook Pro doesn't meet Section 4.3.1.7 requirements because of the glued battery and fused glass.
This isn't the first time Apple has been in hot water with environmental organizations. Back in April of this year, independent environmental organization
Greenpeace gave Apple poor renewable energy scores for its iCloud data center. Apple had the highest percentage for coal dependency out of all the other tech companies at 55.1 percent.
However, Apple has worked on its environmental impact by planning to
power all three of its data centers in North Carolina, California and Oregon with renewable energy by February 2013.
EPEAT's review is expected to be released in about a month.
