Apple Withdraws from EPEAT

— 2 minute read

Nice catch by Guy English at kickingbear.com1, noticing that Apple is withdrawing it's products from EPEAT - more on Cnet, including this quote:

Apple "said their design direction was no longer consistent with the EPEAT requirements," CIO Journal quotes EPEAT CEO Robert Frisbee as saying. "They were important supporters and we are disappointed that they don't want their products measured by this standard anymore."

I agree with Guy in that it's likely something to do with the new Retina MacBook Pro since all recent Mac laptops were EPEAT rated before it came out. EPEAT information has been pulled off the main Apple.com environmental footprint page but as of this blog post, EPEAT information is still on Apple's iMac page - I've put a screenshot below for posterity:

EPEAT on Apple iMac page
EPEAT on Apple iMac page

Apple still has a recycling program and I suspect they'll still try to follow environmental suggestions and requirements so long as it doesn't get in the way of a serious design decision. Not that they'll club baby seals to get a slimmer iPhone, but as with everything, there are tradeoffs and sometimes the benefits to a user will outweigh whatever standards that EPEAT had set for materials in electronics.


  1. I guess a friend/reader got the catch. Guy posted about it.