EPEAT Program
Continuous Monitoring Outcomes Report
Computers and Displays
CD-2020-01
April 7, 2021

1.0 Background
EPEAT® is a comprehensive voluntary sustainability Type 1 ecolabel that helps purchasers identify sustainable
technology products and services. Central to EPEAT are conformity assurance activities that meet the technicalrigor and credibility needs of the institutional purchasers who rely upon EPEAT. The EPEAT Program ensures
the ongoing conformance of EPEAT-registered products through an ongoing surveillance process known asContinuous Monitoring. Continuous Monitoring activities occur throughout the year and test the ability ofParticipating Manufacturers to prove conformance with EPEAT Criteria on an ongoing basis.
Some Continuous Monitoring activities require that Investigations be conducted in discrete timeframes calledRounds. The EPEAT Program develops an individual plan for each Continuous Monitoring Round, which
specifies the EPEAT Criteria to be investigated, the method of investigation that GEC-approved Conformity
Assurance Bodies (CABs) must use and the specific dates when the Investigation activities must be completed.
The EPEAT Program also selects the Participating Manufacturers and EPEAT-registered products and assigns
Investigations to CABs, which must fully participate in and are responsible for implementing Continuous
Monitoring Round activities with their Participating Manufacturer clients. Participating Manufacturers arerequired to cooperate fully with their GEC-approved CAB during Round activities.
To maintain the level of transparency relied on by purchasers, the EPEAT Program publishes an Outcomes
Report at the conclusion of each Round to summarize the activities conducted and to identify the products andParticipating Manufacturers that received major nonconformances and the actions taken to restore accuracyof the EPEAT Registry.
This document summarizes the activities and results of Continuous Monitoring Round CD-2020-01 conducted
for the Computers and Displays category.

2.0 Overview of Continuous Monitoring Round CD-2020-01
2.1

Investigation Activities

As per the published Round Plan, Continuous Monitoring Round CD-2020-01 used Level 2 Investigations(laboratory evaluation of products to determine the products’ conformance with specific EPEAT Criteria). GECapproved CABs obtained the products, as identified by the EPEAT Program, from the open market withoutinvolvement of the Participating Manufacturers, where possible, and sent them for laboratory evaluation. The
laboratories evaluated the products against the specified Criteria and produced reports summarizing theactivities conducted and the results. GEC-approved CABs reviewed the reports, made recommendations onconformity, and sent the reports to the EPEAT Program. The EPEAT Program made the final decisions on
conformity for the Investigations.

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2.2April 7, 2021Criteria InvestigatedContinuous Monitoring Round CD-2020-01 focused on criteria related to the sustainable use of resources. In
this Round, laboratories examined the Required Criteria for all products and the Optional Criterion for those
products that had selected the Criterion.
Table 1: Criteria Investigated in Round CD-2020-01
Criteria Number

Criterion Title

4.3.1.1

Required – Identification of materials and components requiring selective treatment

4.3.2.1

Required – Plastic parts compatible with recycling

4.3.2.2

Required – Plastic parts separable for recycling

4.4.2.1

Required – Removal of external enclosure

4.4.2.6

Optional – Removal of lithium-ion batteries

4.7.2.1

Required – Separable packaging material

4.7.2.2

Required – Plastics marked in packaging materials

3.0 Summary of Investigations and Final Decisions on Conformity for CD-2020-01
Highlights from this Continuous Monitoring Round are:•24 investigations completed•

15 decisions of Conformance•

2 decisions of Inconclusive•

7 decisions of Nonconformance

Further details provided in Section 4•

13 investigations cancelled

Products unable to be obtained for testing for reasons other thanthe product being end-of-life. Investigations to be rescheduled.

Figure 1: Final Conformity Decisions for CD-2020-01(shown as percentage of total investigations)Global Electronics Council

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4.0 Further Details on Nonconformances for CD-2020-01
Table 2 below provides a breakdown of the nonconformances by Criterion.
Table 2: Breakdown of Nonconformances by Criterion for CD-2020-01

1NonconformanceRate25%

4250%

Plastic parts separable for recycling

4125%

Removal of external enclosure

4125%

4.7.2.1

Separable packaging

4125%

4.7.2.2

Plastics marked in packaging materials

4125%

Criteria Number

Criterion Title

4.3.1.1
4.3.2.1

Identification of materials and components
requiring selective treatment
Plastic parts compatible with recycling

4.3.2.2
4.4.2.1

Completed
Investigations
4

Nonconformances

Figure 2 provides a further breakdown by the underlying reason for the nonconformances.
Figure 2: Underlying Reason for Nonconformances in CD-2020-01(shown as a percentage of total nonconformances)

4.1Major Versus Minor Nonconformances

All nonconformances must be categorized as either major or minor. For Level 2 Investigations,nonconformances may be categorized as minor if a GEC-approved CAB is unable to obtain a product from themarket and the Participating Manufacturer indicated the product has reached end-of-life and is no longer
available on the market. All nonconformances that do not meet the definition of minor are categorized asmajor. Only 1 nonconformance of the 7 total nonconformances was identified as major. The other 6
nonconformances were minor due to the product being end-of-life.

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4.2

April 7, 2021

Major Nonconformances

The major nonconformance in CD-2020-01 pertained to Criterion 4.3.2.1. This Criterion has multiple elements,
all of which must be met to demonstrate conformance. These elements are conformance with ISO 11469/1043
plastic material marking codes, removability of metal inserts, and restriction of adhesives, coatings, paints orfinishes that are not compatible with recycling.

5.0

Actions to Restore Conformance

Where the final conformity decision is nonconformance (whether major or minor), Participating Manufacturers
must make corrections to restore the accuracy of the EPEAT Registry during the Corrective Action Phase. Theseactivities may include providing additional evidence to demonstrate conformance with the Criterion or
unselecting the Criteria in the EPEAT Registry. Where the product was found nonconformant and is no longer
available in the marketplace, the product must be archived.
During the Corrective Action Phase, Participating Manufacturers must also develop Corrective Action Plans forother EPEAT-registered products that may be affected by the same underlying issue causing thenonconformance but were not the subject of investigation (called “similarly affected products”).
The following actions were taken to restore accuracy to the EPEAT Registry as a result of Continuous
Monitoring Round CD-2020-01:•7 investigations:

Product archived by the Manufacturer, CAB or the EPEAT Program

Table 3 in Section 7 identifies the Participating Manufacturers and products that received major
nonconformances in Continuous Monitoring Round CD-2020-01.

6.0 Key Findings
6.1

Archiving End-of-Life ProductsParticipating Manufacturers are reminded that they are only able to achieve and maintain EPEAT-registration
for products that are available on the market. Participating Manufacturers must remove/archive products
when the products are end-of-life and no longer offered for sale.
6.2

Conformity Against All Elements of a Criterion

As identified in Section 4.2 of this report, Criterion 4.3.2.1 has multiple elements against which conformancemust be shown. Participating Manufacturers should be prepared to show conformance to all of these elements
and are encouraged to work with their CABs if they have questions.

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7.0 Identification of Major Nonconformances and Corrections Made by Participating Manufacturers
In the interest of transparency, the EPEAT Program identifies the Participating Manufacturers and products that received major nonconformances and the actions taken to restore accuracy of the EPEAT
Registry. Minor nonconformances are generally clerical in nature and do not materially affect the validity of products in the EPEAT Registry. As such, these are not identified in the table below.

Table 3: Summary of Major Nonconformances and Corrections Made by Participating Manufacturers
Participating Manufacturer

ProductProduct TypeCountry

Criterion
NumberCriterion Title

Required orOptional

Underlying Reason for Nonconformance

Corrective Action Taken

Positivo Tecnologia S.A.

VAIO F15

Notebook

N/A

4.3.2.1

Plastic parts compatible with recycling

Required

Demonstrated nonconformance

Manufacturer archived theproduct

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Document Control and Change HistoryIssue1Revision01120

Owner
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
Senior Manager,
Ecolabels andResources

Global Electronics Council

ApproverDirector, EPEAT
ProgramDirector, EPEAT
Program
Senior Director,
Ecolabels andManufacturer
Resources

Description
Initial release

Reformatting of document. Addition ofstandardized text.

Outcomes Report – Level 2 Investigations (P41A Issue2 Rev0)

Approval Date

Effective Date2018 Dec 112018 Dec 112021 Mar 25

2021 Mar 30Page 6 of 6