TCO Certified – like an ecolabel, but so much more

TCO Certified is like an ecolabel, but so much more — it is a global sustainability certification for IT products, including both social and environmental aspects. In our 30 years of certifying more sustainable IT products, we’ve learned that when many purchasers issue the same demands they form a unified voice that more effectively pushes the industry towards more sustainable practice. That’s another reason why using a robust ecolabel is better than setting your own criteria.

Kjell Brunnström is an Adjunct Professor and a Senior Scientist at Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE). He leads an engaged team focused on research in visual media and display quality. Together with the team member Börje Andrén he has followed TCO Certified from day one.

“TCO Certified has been a strong driving force since the beginning. When TCO Certified issued tough demands on industry, the brand owners initially said they couldn’t handle them. Still, they were quickly able to meet the demands when they realized it benefited them,” says Kjell Brunnström.

TCO Certified challenges the IT industry and is an easy to use tool for purchasers that want to include relevant and comprehensive sustainability criteria in their procurement. Most importantly, independent verification is included — it’s mandatory and continuous. The purchaser does not need deep knowledge in sustainability or a network of experts that have access to IT factories all over the world. To be part of the sustainable IT revolution, you only need to write TCO Certified in your procurement specifications and ask vendors to show a product certificate as proof.

A new generation of updated criteria is launched every third year, to push sustainability where it matters most and to keep pace with technology and shifting supply chains. We know how to close the loopholes in the IT industry and how to focus purchaser efforts to drive real and lasting change in crucial areas like factory working conditions, anti-corruption, substitution of hazardous substances and circular product design.

Compliance with all criteria in TCO Certified is verified by independent verification organizations that specialize in IT products, supply chain social responsibility or other priority sustainability areas. The process is extensive and includes factory audits, product tests, and assessments proving that the brand owner’s code of conduct meets certain standards and is implemented throughout the supply chain. The brand owner is by contract responsible for ensuring that certified products and the factories where they are made meet the criteria in TCO Certified throughout the certificate’s full validity period. Products, factories and brand owners are followed up with spot checks based on risk assessments.

TCO Development, the organization behind TCO Certified, goes through all the proof, audits and test reports and handles all monitoring and dialog with brand owners, verifiers, and factories. The product certificate for each certified model serves as proof of compliance. Far from all ecolabels give purchasers access to this type of proof. But being able to trace all claims to an independent party’s validation means knowing the true impact of your procurements. This is what reduces risk and saves you time and resources. Demanding independent verification is smart business.