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Compared to conventional computer equipment, all EPEAT-registered computer
products contain reduced levels of cadmium, lead, and mercury to better protect
human health and the environment. They are more energy efficient, which saves
money and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. They are also easier to upgrade and
recycle, and manufacturers must offer institutional purchasers take back and
recycling services for any model registered under EPEAT.
2008 US purchases of EPEAT registered laptops, desktops, and monitors over
conventional products will:
• Reduce use of toxic materials, including mercury, by 1021 metric tons,
equivalent to the weight of 510,949 bricks
• Eliminate use of enough mercury to fill 149,685 household fever thermometers
• Preclude the disposal of 43 thousand metric tons of hazardous waste,
equivalent to the weight of almost 22 million bricks.
• Eliminate 14,353 Metric Tons of solid waste, equivalent to the amount 7202
U.S. households generate in a year
In addition, due to EPEAT’s requirement that registered products meet ENERGY
STAR’s energy efficiency specifications, these products will consume less energy
throughout their useful life, resulting in:
• Savings of over 8.39 billion kWh of electricity — enough to power over 700,000
US homes for a year
• Reduction in use of 14.8 million metric tons of primary materials, equivalent
to the weight of more than 114 million refrigerators
• Avoidance of 34.2 million metric tons of air emissions (including greenhouse
gas emissions) and over 71,000 metric tons of water pollutant emissions
• Reduction of over 1.57 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions —
equivalent to taking over one million US passenger cars off the road for a year
In addition to these benefits, reported global sales demonstrate EPEAT’s
potential for reducing the environmental costs of computing worldwide. Despite
only 27% of participating manufacturers reporting their Canadian EPEAT sales and
only 20% reporting their Rest of World sales, the estimated benefit of EPEAT
sales to these regions is still significant:
• Reduction of 2.8 million metric tons of primary materials
• Elimination of over a million kilograms of toxic materials, including enough
mercury to fill 157,311 household fever thermometers
• 16,297 Metric Tons of solid waste eliminated Greenhouse gas emissions
equivalent to removing 2.3 million US cars from the road for a year
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