More IT brands focus on sustainability to meet strict criteria in TCO Certified

Canadian public agencies have used TCO Certified in procurement for more than 20 years and in 2018, the Canadian Government announced that it would include additional product categories in their TCO Certified requirement. This led Ciara to apply for TCO Certified for its systems destined to the Canadian Government.

When an IT product brand owner starts using TCO Certified, they’re making a long term commitment to working toward a sustainable IT product life cycle. This effort requires continuous innovation and improvement on the part of brand owners and suppliers alike. TCO Certified provides the systematic roadmap for getting there.

In November 2019, the certification process was finished for Ciara and certificates were issued for two desktop models. This makes Ciara the first Canadian brand ever to meet the tough criteria in TCO Certified.

Roch Brunet, Product Manager for PC Systems at Ciara Technologies has been coordinating the work. He says that Ciara had to make a number of changes to meet the sustainability criteria, both when it comes to their company culture and the supply chain. Ciara found that TCO Certified has a much broader scope and is stricter than ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, which the organization already met. They had to change work procedures and write new policies for anti-corruption, social responsibility and responsible mineral sourcing, which have been published on their website and communicated to employees and suppliers.

“During the certification process we established systems and structures vital to preventing accidents and abuses that damage both businesses and communities. One example is hazardous substances, and our organization are more aware than ever of dangerous substances that should not be included in our manufacturing,” says Roch Brunet.

He continues:
“Despite the challenges there was a clear consensus amongst top managers that we should go forward and implement numerous changes. It required some hard work but now we’re proud to have reached our goal, to certify desktop computers according to TCO Certified.”

The Portuguese IT brand Inforlandia also strengthens its sustainability focus and has recently received a TCO Certified certificate for one of their display models. Victor Hugo Ferreira, Technical Project Manager at Inforlandia, comments:

“TCO Certified is one of the most required certifications among our clients. To meet customer demand, we applied for certification and we are now happy and proud that one of our display models meets all the criteria in TCO Certified, generation 8.”

TCO Certified includes a requirement that a senior management representative must be available to discuss sustainability issues and necessary improvements with TCO Development. During these talks, development areas have been identified which Inforlandia will continue to work on.

Victor Hugo Ferreira says that Inforlandia had to make a number of changes to meet the criteria in TCO Certified, and that the company’s view on sustainability changed during the certification process. A journey has started, that will continue for a long time.

“Our next step is to certify other product categories and we have already applied for certification of desktop computers and notebooks, Victor Hugo Ferreira says.