Late last month, Apple notified EPEAT that it would stop submitting its products for certification.
Withdrawing from EPEAT should therefore mean that Apple has withdrawn entirely from those markets.
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And perhaps that was the reason Apple decided to pull out now, before those laptops were reviewed by EPEAT.
But EPEAT's CEO, Robert Frisbee, says Apple's "design direction" may be to blame.
In 2006, the EPEAT registry went live with 60 green certified technology products.
This might be the shortest withdrawal from a standards organisation ever: Apple has announced that it is rejoining EPEAT.
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Apple hasn't commented on why it removed itself from EPEAT, which is awarded to electronics that are recyclable and energy-efficient.
"They said their design direction was no longer consistent with the EPEAT requirements, " Frisbee told the Wall Street Journal.
Apple would not comment on exactly why it abandoned the EPEAT environmental standard, which measures a product's recyclability and energy efficiency.
Last month Apple made an interesting green business decision when it backed out of the EPEAT green electronics certification program.
This standard, on which the EPEAT rating system is based, is an important measuring stick for our industry and its products.
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Products meeting all of the required criteria and at least 75 percent of the optional criteria are recognized as EPEAT Gold products.
However, there is a sting in this tail: in order to sell to the Federal Government you need to have EPEAT certification.
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Apple has withdrawn all its laptop and desktop computers from the EPEAT environmental rating system, including older MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models.
The EPEAT program was conceived by the US EPA and is based on IEEE 1680 standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products.
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EPEAT, which stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, is a voluntary environmental rating that helps consumers identify greener computers and other electronic equipment.
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We've recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system.
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Over the past several years, EPEAT has spread to countries around the world and is arguably the most recognized green technology certification on the market.
Apple has just withdrawn its products from the EPEAT environmental evaluation program: this should mean that Apple is no longer an allowable purchase for the Federal Government.
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Apple has notified EPEAT that it is withdrawing its products from the EPEAT registry and will no longer be submitting its products to EPEAT for environmental rating.
FORBES: Has Apple Just Banned Itself From All Government Contracts?
Cupertino's decision means that many federal agencies might not be able to buy those products, since 95 percent of its electronics purchasing must conform to the EPEAT standard.
Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT.
San Francisco also has a rule on the books prohibiting the city from purchasing desktop and laptop computers that are not EPEAT-certified, said Christine Falvey, spokeswoman for the mayor.
Currently, iPhones and iPads are exempt from that certification, but considering recent ads from Apple specifically touting its conformance to EPEAT, the company might have some 'splaining to do.
In a statement posted on its website last month, EPEAT did not elaborate on Apple's reasons for quitting the standard, which the company and other industry leaders helped create.
Also, as part of the lifecycle design process, the laptops meet Energy Star 5.0 for high energy efficiency and are rated EPEAT Gold in the U.S. for their environmental attributes.
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Our relationship with EPEAT has become stronger as a result of this experience, and we look forward to working with EPEAT as their rating system and the underlying IEEE 1680.1 standard evolve.
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In fact, our engineering teams have worked incredibly hard over the years to make our products even more environmentally friendly, and much of our progress has come in areas not yet measured by EPEAT.
ENGADGET: Bob Mansfield: 'all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT'
Thus is most unlikely to pass EPEAT standards.
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We also lead the industry by reporting each product's greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials.
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