Environmental Labelling Of Personal Computers - IBM 72H9623 User Manual

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Environmental Labelling of Personal Computers

Congratulations! You have just purchased a TCO'95 approved and labelled product! Your
choice has provided you with a product developed for professional use. Your purchase has also
contributed to reducing the burden on the environment and to the further development of
environmentally-adapted electronic products.
Why do we have environmentally-labelled computers?
In many countries, environmental labelling has become an established method for encouraging
the adaptation of goods and services to the environment.
The main problem as far as computers and other electronic equipment are concerned is that
environmentally harmful substances are used both in the products and during their manufacture.
Since it has not been possible so far for the majority of electronic equipment to be recycled in a
satisfactory way, most of these potentially damaging substances sooner or later enter Nature.
There are also other characteristics of a computer, such as energy consumption levels, that are
important from both the working and natural environment viewpoints. Since all types of
conventional electricity generation have a negative effect on the environment (acidic- and
climatic-influencing emissions, radioactive waste, etc.), it is vital to conserve energy. Electronic
equipment in offices consumes as enormous amount of energy, since it is often routinely left
running continuously.
What does labelling involve?
This product meets the requirements for the TCO'95 scheme, which provides for international
environmental labelling of personal computers. The labelling scheme was developed as a joint
effort by the TCO (The Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees),
Naturckyddsföreningen (The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation), and NUTEK (The
National Board for Industrial and Technical Development in Sweden), and SEMKO AB (an
international certification agency).