For the eighth consecutive year, ORAU has earned recognition from the Global Electronics Council (GEC) for its commitment to purchase information technology products that meet the highest standards for being environmentally friendly.
The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Purchaser Award goes to organizations that have demonstrated excellence in making purchases of electronics with the least possible environmental impact. The GEC first established the EPEAT Purchaser Award in 2015, and ORAU has earned the honor every year since then.
The award honors organizations that spend purchasing dollars on electronics manufactured to conserve energy, eliminate environmentally sensitive materials and increase recyclability. For 2022, the GEC recognized ORAU as a five-star honoree for its purchases in five different product categories:
- Computers and displays
- Imaging equipment
- Televisions
- Mobile phones
- Servers
The GEC works with manufacturers, governments, trade associations and environmental advocacy groups to evaluate and endorse environmentally responsible products. The EPEAT ecolabel provides companies with a simplified way to purchase environmentally trustworthy electronics and to quantify their energy consumption reduction.
Bridget Jones, ORAU procurement coordinator, said earning the EPEAT Purchaser Award each year since its inception in 2015 demonstrates ORAU’s long-term focus on being an environmentally friendly corporate citizen.
“Receiving the EPEAT award reflects ORAU’s ongoing commitment to sustainable business practices, purchasing, and achievement of goals to reduce electrical consumption and minimizing waste and toxic substances released to the environment,” Jones said.
Jones explained that ORAU’s Procurement Department works closely with the company’s Information Technology Services group to ensure that technology purchases are both well-suited to the company’s IT needs but also recognized by EPEAT for their environmental impact.
“ORAU is dedicated to establishing and maintaining the highest standards of sustainable purchasing across all business areas to ensure compliance and support of purchasing EPEAT registered IT products and equipment,” Jones said. “As a federal contractor, we continue to strive to be excellent stewards of government resources and purchasing dollars, and to help achieve this goal, we are intentional in our sustainable electronics purchasing.”
To learn more about the GEC’s EPEAT program, visit www.epeat.net.