HARRISBURG, PA — For the second consecutive year, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been nationally recognized with the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT, Purchaser Award for its commitment to preserving the environment through the purchase of nearly 67,400 units of sustainable electronics, announced Pennsylvania Department of General Services Secretary Curt Topper. Pennsylvania made more than $79 million in EPEAT-qualified purchases in the Computers & Displays and Digital Imaging categories in Fiscal Year 2019-2020. The commonwealth was one of only eight states recognized with the 2021 EPEAT Purchaser Award.
“When it comes to sustainability, Pennsylvania is walking the talk, and it is great to be recognized for our commitment for the second year in a row,” Sec. Topper said. “Every day, electronic devices play an increasing role in how we work, communicate and serve our customers, but our carbon footprint doesn’t have to increase at the same time. Thanks to the DGS Bureau of Procurement’s IT and Quality Assurance divisions, we have reduced our carbon footprint and we are becoming more energy-efficient through sustainable electronics.”
During the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the commonwealth purchased nearly 67,400 eligible products that met either a “Gold”, “Silver” or “Bronze” status in accordance with EPEAT criteria – a nearly 27,400 product increase from the year before. The criteria consider materials selection, design for product longevity, reuse and recycling, energy conservation, end-of-life management, and corporate performance. In total 43 percent of the commonwealth’s Computers & Displays, Digital Imaging Equipment and Mobile Phones achieved an EPEAT Gold status rating, 56 percent Silver and 1 percent Bronze.
“With the emergence of the pandemic, we saw an increase in the purchase of electronics as our workforce moved to a teleworking environment,” Topper said. The purchase of these sustainable electronics not only allowed us to continue our operations and deliver critical services to Pennsylvanians when they needed them the most, but we also were able to reaffirm our responsibility to be environmentally and financially responsible.”
The energy savings of nearly $1.34 million associated with the green electronics purchases is enough electricity to power approximately 2,582 US households for a year, while the carbon footprint reduction is equivalent to annually removing approximately 1,423 passenger cars from the road. The amount of solid waste eliminated from the environment is the equivalent of the annual waste generation of 347 households.
EPEAT is a resource administered by the Green Electronics Council where organizations can find or promote electronic products that meet certain environmental performance criteria. The Green Electronics Council maintains the EPEAT website and product registry and recognizes organizations for their purchases of EPEAT-registered products.
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