[February 12, 2013]

Worldwide Green Rating System Launches for Printers, Copiers, Scanners

EPEAT®, the definitive global registry for greener electronics, announced today its expansion beyond PCs and Displays to include printers, copiers and other imaging equipment. The expansion was heralded by Congressional leaders, environmental groups, leading manufacturers and institutional purchasers at an event today in Washington, D.C. For more than six years, EPEAT ratings have helped companies, governments and consumers compare and purchase greener PCs and monitors, resulting in significant environmental benefits.

The EPEAT registry currently includes imaging equipment from seven manufacturers: Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Lexmark, Ricoh (News - Alert) and Xerox. Two additional manufacturers - Konica Minolta and Samsung - have begun the process of registering products with EPEAT. Combined, these nine manufacturers represent at least 80% of the global market for copiers, printers, scanners and multifunction devices. Devices will be continually added to the registry as they are deemed compliant with EPEAT's environmental requirements.

"World markets will now be able to easily and reliably identify and purchase greener printers, copiers and scanners based on EPEAT ratings," said Robert Frisbee, EPEAT CEO. "I applaud the leadership of everyone involved with achieving this important milestone."

"I'm proud that my district is home to this organization that is making such a difference, not just in the U.S., but around the world. The federal government is leading by example by embracing EPEAT standards for greener electronics, and I'm eager to see the positive impact of the expanded EPEAT registry," said U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer. "EPEAT's success shows that an incentive-based approach can move markets and that diverse stakeholders working together can be true catalysts for change."

"EPEAT's environmental impact standards serve a valuable role in the marketplace," said U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, incoming Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "I commend those manufacturers that meet EPEAT's stringent environmental ratings, and I'm proud to say that EPEAT calls Oregon home."

To be added to the EPEAT registry, an imaging device must meet at least 33 required environmental performance criteria. Products may achieve higher ratings by meeting up to 26 additional optional criteria. The rating criteria were developed during a four-yer stakeholder consensus process that involved hundreds of representatives from the environmental, research, governmental and manufacturing sectors.

EPEAT rates products on a lifecycle basis, addressing the elimination of toxic substances, the use of recycled and recyclable materials, their design for recycling, product longevity, energy efficiency, corporate performance and packaging, among other criteria.

"We are proud to be among the first imaging equipment providers to participate in the expansion of the EPEAT registry," said Mario Rufino, Manager, Environmental Management & Product Safety, Canon (News - Alert) U.S.A., Inc. "The new imaging equipment standard was developed to highlight leadership in sustainability. As Canon's registered products are designed with this in mind, we welcome any effort that helps customers choose office technology solutions that help them reduce their own impact on the environment."

"Customers are looking for simple ways to make comparisons between products and their environmental qualities. Dell (News - Alert) helps its customers make those assessments easily through our commitment to a wide range of EPEAT product registrations (more than 200 currently) and the IEEE (News - Alert) 1680 series of standards," says Steve Lalla, Vice President End User Computing at Dell. "EPEAT-registered products are a global solution reflecting our own environmental sustainability principles and providing consistent, impartial guidance for our customers. The recent publication of the IEEE 1680.2 Imaging standard will continue the long-standing collaboration with Dell and EPEAT as we expand product registrations to include our line of imaging products."

"Epson has been committed to the environment since 1988 when the company began pioneering the elimination of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in its manufacturing processes," said Colin Donahoe, director of business imaging for Epson America. "Our corporate values and environmental performance are in line with EPEAT standards, and Epson is working to ensure that over 90 percent of our printer and scanner lines meet a minimum of EPEAT Bronze level certification."

"Lexmark strongly supports initiatives such as EPEAT that will help our customers make more informed choices about purchasing greener products, solutions and services," said Marty Canning, Lexmark executive vice president and president of Imaging Solutions and Services. "Sustainability is core to Lexmark's vision of positively impacting the communities where we live and work. Since Lexmark's inception and the formation of its vision and values, our company has assumed responsibility for its actions associated with ecological impacts and worked diligently to remain an exemplary environmental steward around the world."

"At Ricoh, we have focused on being a leader of environmental sustainability for the entire product life cycle, which is core to our global business operations. Furthermore, we strongly believe that the EPEAT Imaging Equipment Program is essential to helping purchasers make informed decisions," said Jay Dizzine, Vice President, Technology Marketing, Ricoh Americas Corporation. "By engaging in EPEAT, Ricoh is further enhancing its complete portfolio of products and services to better manage and reduce environmental impact and cost, while improving productivity for our customers and creating shared value for our society."

"At Xerox, sustainability is our way of doing business, so when given the opportunity to help customers make informed decisions on selecting environmentally preferable products, we were onboard. Our current EPEAT registered products include multifunction printers and stand-alone printers that help businesses simplify how work gets done while producing less waste and using less energy," said Diane O'Connor, vice president, Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability, Xerox.

"As a broad-based technology distributor with deep relationships in the IT channel, we are excited about this new EPEAT registry that offers our customers greener printer and copier choices," said Kirk Robinson, senior vice president, commercial markets and global accounts, Ingram Micro North America. "Our public sector team will ensure that our resellers have access to the right solutions for technology users in government, healthcare and education markets."

EPEAT's original PC/Display rating system is used as an environmental requirement by eight national governments, including the United States, and thousands of purchasers worldwide. Purchase contracts that require EPEAT registration exceed $65 billion. More than 50 manufacturers have registered their greener PCs, monitors, copiers, printers and scanners in more than 40 countries. More than 533 million EPEAT-registered products have been purchased since the original registry debuted in July 2006.

Since 2006, purchasers choosing EPEAT-registered electronics over products that don't meet the system's criteria have eliminated greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 11 million U.S. vehicles' annual impact, avoided more than 394,000 metric tons of hazardous waste and reduced solid waste by nearly 167,000 metric tons - equivalent to nearly 86,000 U.S. households' annual waste.

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