EPEAT® Criteria Development
Credible by Design
A Balanced and Transparent Criteria Development Process for Every Product Category.
EPEAT’s criteria development process is guided by an unwavering commitment to excellence in transparency and meaningful stakeholder engagement.
While all Type 1 ecolabels are required (by the internationally recognized ISO 14024 standard) to develop product category-specific criteria and involve stakeholders in the criteria development process, our approach is truly unparalleled and represents best practice. We collaborate with our stakeholders to develop and update criteria by sharing draft research results and draft criteria for public comment, and convene Expert Ad Hoc Groups and balanced, voluntary, consensus-based Technical Committees where the criteria are ultimately established.
For every new product category, our criteria development process begins by publishing a State of Sustainability Research report. This document compiles science and data-driven research on sustainability impacts specific to that product category and identifies opportunities that exist for addressing these impacts.
We ensure balanced representation across four stakeholder groups in the Technical Committees – electronics brands, policy makers, purchasers, and other industry (recyclers, supply chain partners, etc.). The names of organizations that participate in Technical Committees and Expert Ad Hoc groups are published directly in final criteria documents, and we announce opportunities for engaging throughout the process publicly on the EPEAT Announcements Page.
A summary of the criteria development process is below and available in the document GEC Criteria Development Process. Details on how we select new product categories for EPEAT are also publicly available in GEC Selection of Product Categories.
To ensure that the criteria remain relevant, continue to be impactful and incentivize leadership performance, EPEAT reviews criteria every three years from the last publication date. The review and revision process mirrors that described above, and considers important factors including but not limited to:
- New science and data on sustainability impacts
- Evolution of best practices and test methods
- Evolution of technology, in general and for specific product types and categories
- Emerging priorities for government policy and purchasers
- Stakeholder requests for criteria revisions
New Criteria and New Product Categories
EPEAT welcomes proposals for new criteria or product categories, revisions to existing criteria and/or corrections to existing criteria from stakeholders. To submit a proposal, please complete all sections of the GEC Criteria Feedback and Request Form and send, with any attachments, to Criteria@GEC.org. Questions about completing this form can also be directed to Criteria@GEC.org.
