EPEAT Program
Continuous Monitoring Outcomes Report
Mobile Phones
MP-2023-02
June 15, 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 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-2023-02 conducted
for the Mobile Phones category.

2.0 Overview of Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2023-02
2.1

Investigation Activities

As per the published Round Plan, Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2023-02 used Level 0 Investigations,which involve reviewing publicly available information to determine Participating Manufacturers’ conformancewith specific EPEAT Criteria. GEC-approved CABs had a discrete time period to locate and review publicly
available information to determine conformance with EPEAT Criteria selected for investigation. CABs thenmade recommendations on conformity based solely on the publicly available evidence, and sent Investigation
Reports to the EPEAT Program. The EPEAT Program made the final decisions on conformity for theinvestigations.

Global Electronics Council

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2.2

June 15, 2023

Criteria InvestigatedContinuous Monitoring Round focused exclusively on Criteria that can be evaluated using publicly availableinformation. While the EPEAT Program generally tries to focus on a specific impact or issue area in selecting
Criteria for investigation, the focus in this Round was instead on Criteria which have requirements to makeinformation publicly available.
Participating Manufacturers received up to three investigations: two of the Criteria selected for investigation
were Required Criteria, and one was an Optional Criterion. As a result, all Participating Manufacturers received
at least two investigations, and a third investigation was assigned if the manufacturer had selected theOptional Criterion.
Table 1: Criteria Investigated in Round MP-2023-02
Criteria Number

Criterion Title

11.1.1Take-back program

11.3.2

Battery removability instructions

11.6.1

Repair and refurbishment

3.0 Summary of Investigations and Final Decisions on Conformity for MP-2023-02
Highlights from this Continuous Monitoring Round are:•8 investigations completed•

7 decisions of Conformance•1 decision of Inconclusive•

1 investigation cancelled[Investigation cancelled because product was archived]

Figure 1: Final Conformity Decisions for MP-2023-02(shown as percentage of total investigations)Global Electronics Council

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Note: For inconclusive findings, the EPEAT Program may require the CAB to investigate the same Criterion in a
subsequent Level 1 Round to definitively determine conformance.

4.0 Further Details on Nonconformances for MP-2023-02
All nonconformances must be categorized as either a minor error, nonconformance, or nonconformance due
to CAB inaction or delay not attributable to the Participating Manufacturer. Minor errors are non-critical orclerical 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 (unlessthey are due to CAB inaction or delay).
No minor errors or nonconformances were identified in Continuous Monitoring Round MP-2023-02.

5.0 Actions to Restore Conformance
Where the final conformity decision is nonconformance (including minor errors and those due to CAB inactionor delay), Participating Manufacturers must make corrections to restore the accuracy of the EPEAT Registryduring the Corrective Action Phase. These activities may include providing additional evidence to demonstrate
conformance with the criterion or unselecting the criteria in the EPEAT Registry. Where the product was foundnonconformant 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”).
Since no nonconformances were identified in this Round, no actions were taken to restore conformance.

6.0 Key Findings
6.1

Requirements for Optional Criterion 11.3.2 – Battery Removability Instructions

Optional Criterion 11.3.2 – Battery removability instructions, requires information on how to obtain removal
instructions in accordance with 11.3.1 to be posted on the manufacturer’s website. 11.3.1 requires instructions
showing how the batteries can be removed. For 11.3.2, information for how the end user can obtain theseremoval instructions must be provided. Alternatively, the manufacturer can choose to post the instructions
directly on their website.
6.2

Required Criterion 11.6.1 – Repair and Refurbishment

For Required Criterion 11.6.1 – Repair and refurbishment, Option 3, the manufacturer must publicly
communicate a means to send or bring the product for service. It is acceptable for sales locations to also beauthorized repair providers as long as information on how to send or bring the phone to these locations forrepair is provided.

Global Electronics Council

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June 15, 2023Document Control and Change History
Issue1Revision0Owner
Senior Manager,
Ecolabels andResources

Global Electronics Council

ApproverVice President,
Ecolabels andManufacturer
Resources

Description
Initial release

Outcomes Report – Level 0 Investigations (P41C Issue1 Rev0)

Approval Date
18 Apr 23

Effective Date
19 Apr 23

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