Why do we have
environmentally labelled
computers?
What does labelling
involve?
Appendix
APPENDIX
Regulatory Information
Congratulations! You have just purchased a TCO’95 approved and
labelled product! Your choice has provided you with a product
developed for professional use. Your purchase has also
contributed to reducing the burden on the environment and to the
further development of environmentally-adapted electronic
products.
In many countries, environmental labelling has become an
established method for encouraging the adaptation of goods and
services to the environment. The main problem as far as
computers and other electronic equipment are concerned is that
environmentally harmful substances are used both in the products
and during their manufacture. Since it has not been possible so
far for the majority of electronic equipment to be recycled in a
satisfactory way, most of these potentially damaging substances
sooner or later enter Nature.
There are also other characteristics of a computer, such as energy
consumption levels, that are important from both the working and
natural environment viewpoints. Since all types of conventional
electricity generation have a negative effect on the environment
(acidic- and climatic-influencing emissions, radioactive waste,
etc.), it is vital to conserve energy. Electronic equipment in offices
consumes as enormous amount of energy, since it is often
routinely left running continuously.
This product meets the requirements for the TCO’95 scheme,
which provides for international environmental labelling of
personal computers. The labelling scheme was developed as a
joint effort by the TCO (The Swedish Confederation of
Professional Employees), Naturckyddsfˆreningen (The Swedish
Society for Nature Conservation), and NUTEK (The National Board
for Industrial and Technical Development in Sweden), and SEMKO
AB (an international certification agency).
