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Office equipment 'failing to meet green standards'
08/12/2006 13:22
Office equipment is coming under fire from environmental lobbyists for failing to live up to green expectations.
The amount of energy need to operate and maintain hi-tech office equipment came sharply into focus during the summer, when sweltering temperatures pushed the National Grid to the brink of meltdown as cooling systems went into overdrive.
And according to a recent study by the Carbon Trust, office equipment makes up 15 per cent of the total energy used in the UK.
This figure is set to double over the next 15 years with monitors and computer base units accounting for 65 per cent of the energy consumed.
This has led Greenpeace to compile a list of computer and other office equipment manufacturers that is based on their use of harmful chemicals during the production process and their waste recycling schemes.
The Guide to Greener Electronics revealed that not one PC manufacturer was achieving green status in the view of Greenpeace and that every one of them "could do better".
Zeina Alhajj, an international toxics campaigner with Greenpeace, said: "The IT industry is supposed to be making our lives easier and better and yet even the best performers were all in the 'could do better' bracket."
Chris Grant, from data service provider Colt Telecom, has claimed that the IT industry is on a learning curve when it comes to carbon emissions and that it will take sometime for office equipment to fall in line with the growing demand for products to be environmentally friendly.
At Paperstone, we offer a full range of office equipment.
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