New EPEAT Category Recognizes Leadership in Key Green Criteria

SEOUL, Apr. 3, 2013 ㅡ More than 50 television models from LG Electronics are now rated on the EPEAT global registry for greener electronics, which expanded today to include televisions for the first time.

The new environmental rating category recognizes LG-brand flat-panel HDTVs, Internet-connected Smart TVs and 3D-capable TVs. The comprehensive EPEAT rating system, which currently registers products in 42 countries and regions, is designed to help consumers, businesses and governments identify environmentally preferable television products.

The 53 LG TVs rated on the registry meet up to four dozen environmental performance criteria developed during a four-year consensus process involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, industry representatives and key non-governmental organizations. The stringent EPEAT standards include analysis of a product’s energy efficiency, recyclability, reduction of hazardous substances, packaging and longevity, to name a few attributes.

EPEAT CEO Robert Frisbee commended LG Electronics for its leadership as a charter participant in the new EPEAT registry’s TV category. “As a founding manufacturer in the new TV category, LG is forging a path toward a world filled with greener television options for purchasers worldwide,” he said.

“As a long-time EPEAT partner for computer monitors, we recognize the value of this important program in educating customers about sustainable products,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, president and chief technology officer, LG Electronics Inc. “LG is proud to be among the first to meet EPEAT’s new TV criteria for greener electronics.”

EPEAT has been the gold standard for sustainability ratings since 2006, initially as a program to help companies, governments and consumers compare and purchase greener PCs and monitors. The addition of the new TV EPEAT category comes less than two months after the registry expanded to include printers, copiers and other imaging equipment.

Since 2006, purchasers choosing EPEAT-registered electronics over products that don’t meet the system’s criteria have eliminated greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 11 million U.S. vehicles’ annual impact, avoided more than 394,000 metric tons of hazardous waste and reduced solid waste by nearly 167,000 metric tons – equivalent to  nearly 86,000 U.S. households’ annual waste.

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