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3 quick questions

‘Everybody wants to avoid greenwashing’

2021-11-25

Three quick questions to Sören Enholm, CEO of TCO Development, about how to avoid the greenwashing trap and how the new generation of their sustainability certification for IT products, which will be rolled out globally on 1 December, will affect the IT industry and purchasers.

What makes TCO Certified different from other environmental and fair trade labels?

– TCO Certified is everything an environmental and fair trade label should be and much more. All labels come with sustainability criteria. What sets us apart is our verification and following-up; in other words, proof that the criteria are being met and that the industry is actually becoming more sustainable over time. Some labels allow self-declarations without any independent verification. We require independent experts to check that all the requirements are being met. Certification is a long-term undertaking and not just an environmental label. We therefore require the industry to take a systematic approach to sustainability, and we tighten the criteria every three years.

How does the consumer or purchaser avoid falling into the greenwashing trap?

– When the EU Commission earlier this year examined environmental claims, it found almost half were misleading. Everybody wants to avoid greenwashing, but it is not always obvious which claims can be trusted. The first step is to question even sustainability labelled products. Can the claim be proven? What evidence is there? The easiest thing of all, both for consumers and large purchasers, is to demand that the claims are verified by independent experts. Sustainability certifications and environmental labels with such a system in place are a great help.

On 1 December, you will be launching TCO Certified, generation 9. What does that entail?

– Due to the demand from purchasers for certified products, proven sustainability is today a competitive advantage for the major IT brands. Much progress has been made in recent years. Now we are taking the next step and tightening the sustainability criteria with the introduction of TCO Certified, generation 9. Purchasers get to influence factories lower down the supply chain. We are tightening the criteria on process chemicals used in the production. Only those tested and approved as safer alternatives may be used. By requiring a longer life for IT products, generation 9 also reduces the purchasers’ climate impact and costs.

Sören Enholm was interviewed by Oscar Almqvist, consultant at New Republic. ‘Three Quick Questions…’ is a series of interviews conducted by New Republic.

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