Sustainable Procurement Category Information | Information Technology

Key Category Guidelines and Goals

UC Sustainable Procurement Guidelines have set specific standards for Electronics. Electronics includes any product for which an Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT®) certification is available. EPEAT currently includes PCs and Displays (including tablets), Imaging Equipment (which includes printers, copiers, scanners and multifunction devices), Televisions, Mobile Phones and Servers. Purchasing of Electronics must adhere to the following minimum standard:

  • All Electronics purchased by the University are required to have achieved a minimum EPEAT Bronze-level registration or higher, where applicable. All Electronics must also be Energy Star® rated. Beyond this minimum requirement, UC prefers and has set spend goals to further drive the purchase of EPEAT Gold-level registered products, where applicable. For more information, review the UC Sustainable Procurement Guidelines (pdf).

The University has also committed to ensure the following best practices when purchasing electronic equipment:

  • All recyclers of the University’s electronic equipment must be eSteward certified by the Basel Action Network (BAN). In cases where the University has established take-back programs with a manufacturer, the University will require the manufacturer to become a BAN-certified e-Steward Enterprise (e-Stewards for Enterprises).
  • Printers and copiers must have duplex printing capabilities and hold their warranty while using 100% recycled content paper.
  • Suppliers shall be required to deliver items to the University with energy efficiency and duplex printing functions enabled.

General Criteria 

Some Green (environmental) and Economic and Social sustainability criteria are applicable across all, or a large number of different product or service categories. You can refer to the Sustainable Procurement Guidelines (pdf) for general criteria that must be applied to all applicable categories, and included in the specifications for all relevant solicitations and contracts.

Access Solicitation Guidance & RFx Questions here

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