17 Congratulations!
You have just purchased a TCO'99 approved and labeled 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 labeled computers?
In many countries, environmental labeling has become an established method for encouraging the
adaptation of goods and services to the environment . The main problem, as far as compu ters and other
electronics equipment are concerned, is that envi ronmentally harmful substa nces 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 t hese potentially damaging sub stances sooner or later
enter nature.
There are also other characteristics of a computer, such as en ergy 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 climate-
influencing emissions, radioactive waste), it is vital to save energy. Electronics equipment in offices is
often left running continuously and thereby consumes a lot of energy.
What does labeling involve?
This product meets the requirements for the TCO'99 scheme which provides for international and
environmental labeling of personal computers. T he labeling scheme was deve loped as a joint effort by
the TCO (The Swedish Confederation of Professional E mployees), Svenska Natursk yddsforeningen (The
Swedish Society for Nature Conservation) and Statens En ergimyndighet (The Swedish Nat ional Energy
Administration).
Approval requirements cover a wide range of issues : environment, ergonomics, u sability, emission of
electric and magnetic fields, energy consumption an d electrical and fire safety.
The environmental demands impose restrictio ns on the presence and use of heavy met als, brominated
and chlorinated flame retardants, CFCs (freons) and chlorinated solvents, among other things. The
product must be prepared for recycling and the manufact urer is obliged to have an enviro nmental
policy which must be adhered to in each country where the company i mplements its operational policy.
The energy requirements include a demand that the co mputer and/or display, after a cert ain period of
inactivity, shall reduce its power consumption to a lower level in one or more stages. Th e length of time
to reactivate the computer shall be reasonable for the user.
Labeled products must meet strict environment al demands, for example, in re spect of the reduction of
electric and magnetic fields, physical and visual ergono mics and good usability.
Below you will find a brief summary of the environmental requirements met by this product. The
complete environmental criteria document may b e ordered from:
TCO Development
SE-114 94 Stockholm, Sweden