The IT industry is complex and finding reliable data about products and manufacturing conditions can be a challenge. The lack of verified product claims can lead to unfair competition between brands, as well as greenwash and bluewash. TCO Certified includes independently verified sustainability data that helps you make informed decisions and measure your sustainability progress.
To drive sustainable development in the complex IT industry, accurate and comparable information about products and manufacturing conditions is needed. Transparency around this type of data also helps purchasing organizations make more informed product choices, and measure and report the true sustainability impact of the certified models they actually buy. Another positive effect of giving purchasers and industry access to verified product claims is that it helps IT brands compare their sustainability performance with peers, and reduces the risk of unfair competition and greenwash.
Criteria in TCO Certified — what and why?
This series of articles cover the eight criteria areas in TCO Certified. We go through the most critical sustainability challenges connected to IT products and how you can reduce the risks by including TCO Certified in procurement. All criteria are mandatory, and compliance with criteria is always independently verified.
Our approach: providing access to independently verified sustainability data
To increase transparency around certified products, more than 40 new Sustainability Performance Indicators (SPIs) are added in TCO Certified, generation 9. SPIs make it possible to identify products that are best-in-class from a sustainability perspective and exceed the requirements of TCO Certified. To ensure accurate reporting, gathered data is verified by independent experts.
Product and sustainability information criteria focus on:
- Requiring that sustainability data is reported and independently verified.
- Helping the end user to find information on TCO Certified, and what the certification includes.
- Making sure that the product specification of certified products is correct.
