EPEAT Program
Continuous Monitoring Outcomes Report
Mobile Phones
MP-2022-02
December 16, 2022

1.0 BackgroundEPEAT® 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 are
required 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 nonconformances and the actions taken to restore accuracy of theEPEAT Registry.
This document summarizes the activities and results of Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2022-02 conducted
for the Mobile Phones category.

2.0 Overview of Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2022-02
2.1

Investigation Activities

As per the published Round Plan, Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2022-02 used Level 1 Investigations(documentation review activities to determine Participating Manufacturers’ conformance with specific EPEAT
Criteria). Participating Manufacturers had a discrete time period to provide their CABs with evidence
supporting conformance with the selected EPEAT Criteria. GEC-approved CABs reviewed the documentation,
made recommendations on conformity based solely on the evidence provided by Participating Manufacturers,
and sent Investigation Reports to the EPEAT Program. The EPEAT Program made the final decisions on
conformity for the Investigations.

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2.2

December 16, 2022

Criteria InvestigatedContinuous Monitoring Round MP-2022-02 focused on climate change. Climate change is creating irreversible
damage to the planet and threatening conditions for all life on earth—extreme temperatures and weatherconditions, rising sea levels, melting ice caps, and loss of biodiversity have already been documented as aresult of climate change. The primary contributor to climate change is the release of greenhouse gases into theatmosphere from the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation and other energy needs. The majority ofgreenhouse gas emissions from the electronics industry are often attributed to the supply chain, which
includes raw materials mining, manufacture, and assembly of electronic components, as well as transportationof the finished product. Additionally, the electricity consumed to power electronic products contributes
significantly to climate change as well. As a result, GEC selected criteria which address these issues forinvestigation in this Round.
Participating Manufacturers were assigned one investigation per criteria. Products were selected randomlyusing a random number generator.
Table 1: Criteria Investigated in Round MP-2022-02
Criteria Number

Criterion Title

10.1.1

Battery charger systems

10.1.3External power supply energy efficiency

3.0 Summary of Investigations and Final Decisions on Conformity for MP-2022-02
Highlights from this Continuous Monitoring Round are:•8 investigations completed•

2 decisions of Conformance•6 decisions of Nonconformance

Further details provided in Section 4. All Nonconformanceswere due to CAB failure to submit an Investigation Report.

Figure 1: Final Conformity Decisions for MP-2022-02(shown as percentage of total investigations)Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 1 Investigations (P41B Issue2 Rev1)

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4.0 Further Details on Nonconformances for MP-2022-02
Note: All nonconformances in Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2022-02 were due to CAB failure to submit an
Investigation Report.
Table 2: Breakdown of Nonconformances by Criterion for MP-2022-02
Criteria Number

Criterion Title

Total Nonconformances

10.1.1Required – Battery charger systems

3

10.1.3External power supply energy efficiency

34.1

Minor Errors Versus Nonconformances

All nonconformances must be categorized as either a minor error or nonconformance. Minor errors are noncritical or clerical in nature and do not materially affect the validity of conformance with EPEAT Criteria. Allnonconformances that do not meet the definition of minor errors are categorized as nonconformances.
4.2

Minor Errors

For Level 1 Investigations, nonconformances may be categorized as minor errors for the following reasons:•••Minor human error in data entry (e.g., value cited for EPEAT-product registration is insignificantly
above or below the actual value).
Minor administrative errors (e.g., broken URLs, reports/certificates marginally outdated).
No documentation provided by a Participating Manufacturer where the Participating Manufacturer
indicated the product has reached end-of-life and is no longer available on the market.

There were no minor errors in Round MP-2022-02.
4.3

Nonconformances

All six nonconformances in Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2022-02 were due to CAB failure to submit theInvestigation Report and classified as nonconformances.

5.0 Actions to Restore Conformance
Where the final conformity decision is nonconformance (including minor errors), 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 MP-2022-02:

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6 investigations

December 16, 2022

CAB reviewed evidence originally submitted by Participating Manufacturers,
which demonstrated conformance.

Table 3 in Section 7 identifies the Participating Manufacturers and products that received nonconformances
due to CAB inaction in Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2022-02.

6.0 Key Findings
6.1Test Requirements

Participating Manufacturers and CABs are reminded that test reports used as evidence to demonstrate
conformance must include all necessary information to meet criterion requirements and all necessary
information identified in EPEAT Conformity Assurance Implementation Manual (P66) to ensure integrity of thetest report.

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7.0 Identification of Nonconformances and Corrections Made by Participating Manufacturers
In the interest of transparency, the EPEAT Program identifies the Participating Manufacturers and products that received nonconformances and the actions taken to restore accuracy of the EPEAT Registry.
Minor errors 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 Nonconformances and Corrections Made by Participating Manufacturers
Participating
Manufacturer

ProductProduct TypeCountry

Criterion
NumberCriterion Title

Required or
Optional

Underlying Reason for
Nonconformance

Apple

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

Mobile Phone

Canada10.1.3External power supply energy efficiency

Required

CAB failure to submit
Investigation Report.

AppleApple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Mobile Phone

United States

10.1.1Required – Battery charger systems

Required

CAB failure to submit
Investigation Report.

GoogleGoogle Pixel 4a (5G)

Mobile Phone

United States

10.1.1Required – Battery charger systems

Required

CAB failure to submit
Investigation Report.

GoogleGoogle Pixel 5a with 5G

Mobile Phone

United States

10.1.3External power supply energy efficiency

Required

CAB failure to submit
Investigation Report.

Samsung

Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (SM-N986U
Verizon/T-Mobile/Sprint )Mobile Phone

United States

10.1.3External power supply energy efficiency

Required

CAB failure to submit
Investigation Report.

Samsung

Galaxy S21+ 5G

Mobile Phone

United States

10.1.1Required – Battery charger systems

Required

CAB failure to submit
Investigation Report.

Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 1 Investigations (P41B Issue2 Rev1)

Corrective Action Taken

CAB reviewed information originally submitted byParticipating Manufacturer, which demonstratedconformance.
CAB reviewed information originally submitted byParticipating Manufacturer, which demonstratedconformance.
CAB reviewed information originally submitted byParticipating Manufacturer, which demonstratedconformance.
CAB reviewed information originally submitted byParticipating Manufacturer, which demonstratedconformance.
CAB reviewed information originally submitted byParticipating Manufacturer, which demonstratedconformance.
CAB reviewed information originally submitted byParticipating Manufacturer, which demonstratedconformance.

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Document Control and Change History
Issue
1Revision0112021Owner
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
Senior Manager,
Ecolabels andResources
Senior Manager,Ecolabels andResources

Global Electronics Council

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

Description
Initial release

Approval Date

Effective Date2018 Dec 112018 Dec 11

Reformatting of document. Addition ofstandardized text.

2021 Mar 25

2021 Mar 30

Updated terminology fornonconformances to include“nonconformances” and “minor errors”,
in alignment with revisions to P66.

2022 Sep 152022 Sep 30

Outcomes Report – Level 1 Investigations (P41B Issue2 Rev1)

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