An analysis of Blue Angel environmental seal-of-approval criteria for workstation computers

Many environmental seal of approval eco-labeling programs have begun to branch out into complex product categories, such as printers, computers, and copiers. Given the difficulty such programs have had in establishing "environmental superiority" in relatively simple product categories, such as bathroom tissue, the attempt to set criteria for environmentally preferable electronics would appear to be premature. To illustrate the difficulties in such an approach, this paper critiques the criteria established for workstation computers under the German Blue Angel program, the oldest and most widely recognized of the national seal programs. An analysis of these criteria from a life-cycle perspective strongly suggests that the Blue Angel criteria fail in their fundamental task of differentiating environmentally superior products. At best, the improvement differentials represented by the Blue Angel criteria represent an insignificant percentage of total expected environmental burdens from the overall system. In some cases, the criteria may actually hinder improvements they are intended to encourage.