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"Customers tell us they want to purchase electronics that have a minimal impact on our planet. This is an effort to help them do that using a common methodology that manufacturers across the industry participate in," said Scott O'Connell, environmental strategist, Dell. "This is about making it easy for customers to determine what's 'green' and what's not, and we'd like to have the whole industry involved."

 

In developing the criteria, the consortium will consider the impacts electronics have on those who build, use and dispose of them, as well as their environmental impacts throughout their lifecycle. The standards will also take into account broader social criteria, such as labor conditions under which electronics are manufactured. It also is investigating how to collaborate with standards and programs that consumers are already familiar with, like EPEAT and ENERGY STAR.

 

The Sustainability Consortium is co-administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas. The consortium will release initial results of its work in the third quarter of 2010.

"Our initial work is focused on criteria for laptops, desktops and monitors," said Dr. Kevin Dooley of the Sustainability Consortium and a professor in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. "We plan to expand the project to a broader set of electronic goods later in the year, when additional manufacturers and suppliers will be recruited to the project."

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