Apple Comments on EPEAT Withdrawal

Apple made headlines earlier this week when it emerged that the company had pulled its products from EPEAT's list of registered EPEAT-certified products. Though the news has generated plenty of discussion, Apple itself had yet to comment on its decision to pull away from the environmental standard. All that changed yesterday, though, when the Cupertino-based company issued a statement regarding its actions.

"Apple takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact and all of our products meet the strictest energy efficiency standards backed by the US government, Energy Star 5.2," Apple representative Kristin Huguet, told The Loop.

"We also lead the industry by reporting each product's greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials."

So, while some believe Apple is pulling away from EPEAT because the company is moving towards product designs that no longer satisfy the standard, Apple is of the opinion that EPEAT's standard isn't comprehensive enough. What's more, the Loop's Jim Dalrymple points out that in addition to not measuring toxins and other environmental areas, EPEAT also doesn’t measure smartphones or tablets, which is an area of significant importance for Apple.

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