Apple bows out of program for environment-minded products

(Credit: Apple graphics)

Apple has decided to stop participating in a major program devoted to the production of environmentally friendly products, reportedly saying that its design direction is no longer in line with the program's requirements.

Late last month, the company told the nonprofit EPEAT group that the company would no longer submit its products for green certification from EPEAT and that it was pulling its currently certified products from the group's registry.

According to The Wall Street Journal's CIO Journal site, 39 of Apple's products had received EPEAT's green stamp of approval, including laptops such as the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air.

EPEAT, or the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, receives funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and calls itself "the leading global environmental rating system for electronic products, connecting purchasers to environmentally preferable choices and benefiting producers who demonstrate environmental responsibility and innovation."

The U.S. government requires that 95 percent of its electronics bear the EPEAT seal of approval; large companies such as Ford... [Read more]