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The Greening of IT
80 How Companies Can Make a Difference for the Environment

Among the strictest regulations on the computer industry are the
European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive, or ROHS.
Introduced in 2007, the directive, which covers hardware sold in the EU,
restricts the use of six toxic substances, including lead and mercury. China
and India are expected to adopt versions of ROHS within the next year. The
EU has two other significant green-tech rules: the Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment regulations, which require sellers to take back any
product they sell for recycling; and Registration, Evaluation, and
Authorization of Chemicals, which aims to improve the management and
risk assessment of dangerous chemicals.
The United States has no federal computer-recycling mandate, but
California’s Electronic Waste Recycling Act is a cradle-to-grave program
aimed at reducing hazardous substances in electronic products sold in that
state. It includes a recycling fee of $6 to $10 paid by buyers of PCs and mon-
itors. Other states are likely to follow. Also, the European ROHS standards
are slowly becoming de facto requirements, as the United States makes them
part of the EPEAT standards and vendors look to standardize products world-
wide. “There’s a global marketplace for IT, so when there are new regulations
ptg
by the EU, we all benefit,” says Andrew Fanara, the EPA’s ENERGY STAR
products team leader.

Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
(EPEAT)

EPEAT was created through an Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) council. EPEAT was created because companies and govern-
ment agencies wanted to put green criteria in IT requests for proposals. EPEAT
got a huge boost on January 24, 2007, when President Bush signed an execu-
tive order requiring that 95 percent of electronic products procured by federal
agencies meet EPEAT standards as long as there’s a standard for that product.
The United Nations estimates that 20 million to 50 million tons of com-
puter gear and cell phones worldwide are dumped into landfills each year. It’s
the fastest-growing segment of waste, says Greenpeace legislative director
Rick Hind. At most, 12 percent of PCs and cell phones are recycled, he says:
The rest leech chemicals such as mercury and PVC into the environment.
“The good news is that computer companies are talking about green-
ness, touting green programs,” Hind adds. CIOs will keep setting IT strat-
egy against their bottom lines, but they’re sure to face more questions
about whether they can meet environmental goals at the same time. Here’s a