EPEAT Program
Continuous Monitoring Outcomes ReportServers
SV-2023-01
September 26, 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 SV-2023-01 conductedfor the Servers category.

2.0 Overview of Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2023-01
2.1

Investigation Activities

As per the published Round Plan, Continuous Monitoring Round SV-2023-01 was supposed to use Level 2
Investigations (laboratory evaluation of products to determine the products’ conformance with specific EPEAT
Criteria). GEC-approved CABs obtain the products, as identified by the EPEAT Program, from the open market
without involvement of the Participating Manufacturers, where possible, and send them for laboratory
evaluation. The laboratories then evaluate the products against the specified Criteria and produce reportssummarizing the activities conducted and the results. GEC-approved CABs review the reports, makerecommendations on conformity, and send the reports to the EPEAT Program. The EPEAT Program then makes
the final decisions on conformity for the Investigations.

Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 2 Investigations (P41A Issue2 Rev2)

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SV-2023-01 Outcomes Report

September 26, 2023Unfortunately, this Round was cancelled because the CAB was unable to obtain the product for testing, due toproduct unavailability. Despite both repeated and tenacious attempts by the CAB to obtain the product, theproduct could not be purchased.
2.2

Criteria InvestigatedContinuous Monitoring Round SV-2023-01 was supposed to focus on chemicals of concern. The production ofelectronics often involves over 500 chemicals, while electronic devices potentially contain up to 84% of all
known stable chemical elements. Chemicals in electronic products and processes serve important technicalfunctions, however they are sometimes used without full knowledge of their environmental or human healthhazards. These chemicals can present risks of exposure throughout the product’s life cycle—and toxic
chemicals used in creating electronics can cause serious health issues, including cancer, nerve damage, andreproductive issues. Once released into the environment, hazardous chemicals can also change soil or water,
ultimately leading to the loss of plant or animal life.
In the electronics industry, chemicals of concern remain an on-going challenge as the industry seeks safer andmore sustainable alternatives for hazardous chemical substances. Manufacturers can better prepare for andlessen their risk of supply chain interruptions and high switching costs associated with regulatory restrictions
by having greater clarity into the contents of their devices. Minimizing the use of hazardous chemicals inelectronics and embracing safer alternatives is critical to achieving sustainable consumption and production.
Given the global nature of electronics value chains and the potential reach of problematic chemicals, the socialand economic burden of chemicals of concern in electronics is not confined to certain people or places related
to manufacturing or use—their potential impact can be global in scale, and for this reason, the EPEAT Program
selected criteria which address chemicals of concern for investigation in this Round.
One product for investigation was randomly selected (using a random number generator) from a list ofParticipating Manufacturers. The product would have been investigated for all of the criteria identified in thetable below if the criteria were selected. Unfortunately, because the product could not be obtained no testing
was conducted and the Round was cancelled.
Table 1: Criteria Investigated in Round SV-2023-01
Criteria Number

Criterion Title

6.1.1

Conformance with provisions of European Union RoHS Directive

6.1.2
6.1.3

Conformance with substance restriction requirements of the European Union
Battery Directive
Reduction of Bromine and Chlorine content of plastic parts > 25 grams

8.1.1

Elimination of added heavy metals in packaging

3.0 Summary of Investigations and Final Decisions on Conformity for SV-2023-01
Highlights from this Continuous Monitoring Round are:•0 investigations completed•4 investigations cancelled

Global Electronics Council[Product could not be obtained for testing]

Outcomes Report – Level 2 Investigations (P41A Issue2 Rev2)

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SV-2023-01 Outcomes Report

September 26, 2023

4.0 Further Details on Nonconformances for SV-2023-01
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. For Level 2 Investigations,nonconformances may be categorized as minor errors if a GEC-approved CAB is unable to obtain a productfrom the market and the Participating Manufacturer indicated the product has reached end-of-life and is nolonger available on the market. All nonconformances that do not meet the definition of minor errors are
categorized as nonconformances (unless they are due to CAB inaction or delay).
Since the Round was cancelled and testing was not conducted, no conformity decisions were issued and nononconformances or minor errors were identified.

5.0 Actions to Restore Conformance
Where the final conformity decision is nonconformance (including minor errors and those due to CAB inaction
or 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 the Round was cancelled and testing was not conducted, no conformity decisions were issued and nononconformances or minor errors were identified. For this reason, it was not necessary to take any actions torestore conformance.

Global Electronics Council

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Document Control and Change History
Issue
1Revision0Owner
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
Senior Manager,Ecolabels andResources

112021Senior Manager,
Ecolabels andResources

22Senior Manager,
Ecolabels andResources

Global Electronics Council

ApproverDirector, EPEAT
ProgramDirector, EPEAT
Program
Senior Director,
Ecolabels andManufacturer
Resources
Vice President,
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.
Updated to reflect new nonconformance
category for CAB inaction or delay

2022 Sep 152022 Sep 30

2023 Mar 24

2023 Mar 24

Outcomes Report – Level 2 Investigations (P41A Issue2 Rev2)

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