Answers to frequently asked questions

IT products come with a number of sustainability challenges throughout their life cycle:

• Human rights violations occur in the factories.
• Hazardous substances are used both in products and their manufacture.
• Products can often have a shorter life span because of poor ergonomics, low quality and when they are not able to be repaired or upgraded.

TCO Certified is the world’s most comprehensive sustainability certification for IT products. Criteria in TCO Certified drive social and environmental sustainability throughout the IT product life cycle and compliance is independently verified, both pre and post certification. TCO Certified is available for 11 product categories: displays, notebooks, tablets, smartphones, desktops, all-in-one PCs, projectors, headsets, network equipment, data storage products and servers.

The purpose of TCO Certified is to drive progress toward more sustainable IT products. Organizations that buy IT products can use TCO Certified as a tool for specifying relevant and current sustainability criteria. The certification also helps the IT industry structure their work with sustainability and offers a platform for continuous improvement.

It means that the criteria in TCO Certified cover both environmental and social responsibility criteria throughout the product life cycle, and that the certification meets the requirements of an ISO 14024, Type 1 Ecolabel. Independent verification organizations review and verify that products meet all criteria in TCO Certified. Criteria and verification methods are science-based and are developed in an open process with our international network of stakeholders.

Learn more about TCO Certified

We certify specific product models. Brands cannot be certified.