EPEAT Program
Continuous Monitoring Outcomes ReportServers
SV-2022-03
January 6, 2023

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 nonconformances and the actions taken to restore accuracy of theEPEAT Registry.
This document summarizes the activities and results of Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2022-03 conductedfor the Servers category.

2.0 Overview of Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2022-03
2.1Investigation Activities

As per the published Round Plan, Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2022-03 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

January 6, 2023

Criteria InvestigatedBoth the criteria and products for investigation in Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2022-03 were selected
randomly using a random number generator. Each Participating Manufacturer was assigned two investigations,and any manufacturers who received a nonconformance in a 2021 servers Continuous Monitoring Round wereassigned one additional investigation.
Table 1: Criteria Investigated in Round SV-2022-03
Criteria Number

Criterion Title

8.1.1

8.2.1

Elimination of added heavy metals in packaging
Restriction on the use of elemental chlorine as a bleaching agent in paper-based
packaging material
Enhancing recyclability of packaging materials

9.1.4

Product recyclability calculation and minimum 90% recyclability rate

9.2.1

Information and reporting in preparation for reuse and recycling

10.1.1

Replacement components availability

11.1.1

Provision of product take-back service (corporate)

11.1.2

Manufacturer take-back service for de-installed servers (corporate)

11.2.1End-of-life processing requirements (corporate)

12.1.1

Environmental management system (EMS) (corporate)

8.1.2

3.0 Summary of Investigations and Final Decisions on Conformity for SV-2022-03
Highlights from this Continuous Monitoring Round are:•12 investigations completed•

6 decisions of Conformance•

6 decisions of Nonconformance

Global Electronics Council

Further details provided in Section 4. Note: Five of theNonconformances were due to CAB failure to submit anInvestigation Report.

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Figure 1: Final Conformity Decisions for SV-2022-03(shown as percentage of total investigations)

4.0 Further Details on Nonconformances for SV-2022-03
Note: Five out of the six Nonconformances in Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2022-03 were due to CAB
failure to submit an Investigation Report. One Nonconformance was a demonstrated Nonconformance.
Table 2: Breakdown of Nonconformances by Criterion for SV-2022-03
Criteria Number

Criterion Title

Total Nonconformances

8.1.1

Elimination of added heavy metals in packaging

1

8.1.2

1

9.2.1

Restriction on the use of elemental chlorine as a bleaching agent in paperbased packaging materialInformation and reporting in preparation for reuse and recycling

10.1.1

Replacement components availability

1

11.1.1

Provision of product take-back service (corporate)

1

12.1.1

Environmental management system (EMS) (corporate)

1

4.1

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 SV-2022-03.

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4.3

January 6, 2023Nonconformances

Five out of the six Nonconformances in Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2022-03 were due to CAB failure tosubmit an Investigation Report. One Nonconformance was a demonstrated Nonconformance.

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. These
activities may include providing additional evidence to demonstrate conformance with the criterion orunselecting 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 SV-2022-03:•1 investigation

Additional data provided by Participating Manufacturer, bringing the productinto conformance with the Criterion.

•5 investigations

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 inContinuous Monitoring Round SV-2022-03.

6.0 Key Findings
6.1

Review European Union WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU Article 15 and Annex VII Components
Applicable to Registered Products.

Participating Manufacturers are reminded to ensure that information made available to reuse and recycling
facilities identifies the presence and location of all materials and components requiring selective treatment
listed in Annex VII of the European WEEE Directive, Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and ofthe Council on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and subsequent updates.
6.2

Declaration of URL of Public Disclosure

Participating Manufacturers are reminded to ensure that all declarations of URLs for public disclosure in theEPEAT Registry are up to date.

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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
ParticipatingManufacturer

ProductProduct TypeCountry

Criterion
NumberCriterion Title

Required orOptional

Underlying Reason for Nonconformance

Corrective Action Taken

Ace Computers

PWKS1AA15PWTR

Rack-mounted Server

United States

10.1.1

Replacement components availability

Required

Demonstrated nonconformance

Cisco

UCS C480 M5

Rack-mounted Server

United States

8.1.2

Required

CAB failure to submit Investigation
Report.

Cisco

UCSC-B480 M5Blade Server

United States

12.1.1

Restriction on the use of elemental
chlorine as a bleaching agent in paperbased packaging material
Environmental management system(EMS) (corporate)

Required

CAB failure to submit Investigation
Report.

LenovoLenovo ThinkSystem
SN850

Blade Server

Canada11.1.1

Provision of product take-back service(corporate)

Required

CAB failure to submit Investigation
Report.

LenovoLenovo ThinkSystem
ST650 V2

Rack-mounted Server

United States

9.2.1

Information and reporting in preparation
for reuse and recycling

Required

CAB failure to submit Investigation
Report.

LenovoThinkSystem SD650 V2
Neptune DWC Tray

Blade Server

Canada8.1.1

Elimination of added heavy metals inpackaging

Required

CAB failure to submit Investigation
Report.

Manufacturer provided evidence
demonstrating conformance.
CAB reviewed information originallysubmitted by Participating Manufacturer,
which demonstrated conformance
CAB reviewed information originallysubmitted by Participating Manufacturer,
which demonstrated conformance
CAB reviewed information originallysubmitted by Participating Manufacturer,
which demonstrated conformance
CAB reviewed information originallysubmitted by Participating Manufacturer,
which demonstrated conformance
CAB reviewed information originallysubmitted by Participating
Manufacturer, which demonstrated
conformance

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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

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