PE Int'l Collaborates to Develop North America's First Printer, Imaging Device Product Category Rules
BOULDER, CO and STUTTGART, GERMANY—March 6, 2013—PE International, a global sustainability software and services firm, today announced it has collaborated with UL Environment, Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, Dell, Lexmark, and other global printer and imaging companies, to produce consensus-based rules for understanding the environmental impact of printer and imaging devices. The newly created rules are designed to help companies improve overall sustainability performance and achieve higher green electronics ratings for their products.
Product Category Rules (PCRs) establish parameters and an approach for assessing the environmental footprint of a product with life cycle assessment methodology. The rules help provide a framework to ensure that common metrics are reported among manufacturers when they provide environmental information. The new printer and imaging device rules will ultimately influence products' green position in the marketplace and facilitate participation in indexes and directories, like EPEAT, the green electronics ratings system.
"One of the big challenges in attaining reliable environmental performance metrics is the lack of consistency in approach or methodology from the companies reporting the product results," said Jeff Slye, director at PE International. "Without standard guidelines, industries are at greater risk for Green Washing. The passage of the new PCRs for the printer and imaging sector is a giant leap forward in the sustainable advancement of this electronics category that will ultimately benefit manufacturers and consumers."
The newly formed PCRs were developed through an iterative process that involved many stakeholders. After an open consultation period, the draft PCR went through a rigorous, critical review process by members representing academic, industry, and scientific perspectives before becoming finalized. The final PCRs are now publicly available, and companies can register Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) using its framework. This process, governed by the ISO 14025 standard, ensures a rigorous, comparable, and fair presentation of product impacts in published EPDs. UL Environment acted as the program operator in the development of the PCR, facilitating collaboration amongst the market leaders and creating the final document.
"This is an exciting time for electronics in the sustainability marketplace," said Sara Greenstein, president of UL Environment. "Technology is evolving at an unprecedented rate and tools like the printer PCR help to shape the future of safer, healthier, more sustainable products."
About UL Environment
UL Environment works to advance global sustainability, environmental health, and safety by supporting the growth and development of environmentally preferable products, services, and organizations. We help companies achieve their sustainability goals—and help purchasers, specifiers, retailers, governments, and consumers find products they can trust. UL Environment offers environmental claim validations, multi-attribute product certifications, environmental product declarations, indoor air quality certification, product emissions testing, organizational sustainability certification, and consulting.
About PE International
PE International is the global leader in integrated product and enterprise sustainability performance with proven software solutions, sustainability databases and unparalleled consulting expertise. With more than 20 years of experience and 20 offices around the globe, PE International works with 1,500 clients including companies such as Bayer, Hewlett-Packard, Interface, Kraft Foods, Siemens, Unilever and Volkswagen.
Source: PE International.
