Appendix 25
Appendix
TCO ’99
Congratulations! You have just purchased a TCO ’99 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 also to the further development of environmentally adapted electronics products.
Why do we have environmentally labelled computers?
In many countries, environmental labelling has become an established method for encou- raging the adaptation of goods and services to the environment. The main problem, as far as computers and other electronics equipment are concerned, is that environmentally harmful substances are used both in the products and during their manufacture. Since it is not so far possible to satisfactorily recycle the majority of electronics equipment, 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 the viewpoints of both the work (internal) and natural (external) environments. Since all methods of electricity generation have a negative effect on the environment (e.g. acidic and
What does labelling involve?
This product meets the requirements for the TCO ’99 scheme which provides for interna- tional and environmental labelling of personal computers. The labelling scheme was developed as a joint effort by the TCO (The Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees), Svenska Naturskyddsforeningen (The Swedish Society for Nature Conserva- tion) and Statens Energimyndighet (The Swedish National Energy Administration).
Approval requirements cover a wide range of issues: environment, ergonomics, usability, emission of electric and magnetic fields, energy consumption and electrical and fire safety.
The environmental demands impose restrictions on the presence and use of heavy metals, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, CFCs (freons) and chlorinated sol- vents, among other things. The product must be prepared for recycling and the manufac- turer is obliged to have an environmental policy which must be adhered to in each country where the company implements its operational policy.
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