Government agencies are set to raise the bar on environmental requirements for technology suppliers.
By year end, agencies will be armed with a “best practice checklist” on environmental strategies for ICT.
The checklist will draw on the recently-developed Environmental
Purchasing Guide (EPG), which reinforced environmental concerns in
procurement, such as disposal and energy consumption costs.
The new measures coincide with the Australian National Audit Office’s
first cross-portfolio investigation into environmentally friendly
procurement. The results of the audit will provide future guidance for
agencies on environmental requirements.
The green guidelines are outlined in the Measures to Support
Environmentally Friendly ICT report released by the Australian
Government Information Management Office (AGIMO).
“It is anticipated that benchmarking information obtained from the
audit will help agencies develop their annual procurement plans,” the
report said.
IT suppliers will have to meet minimum energy requirements — based on
the Australian Greenhouse Office — when servicing goverment agencies.
From 2006, the Australian government will introduce minimum
requirements for external power supplies. Computers and monitors will
follow from 2007.
“This measure will ban the poorest performing products from the Australian market,” the report said.
Suppliers of printing and imaging solutions could be hardest hit by the
new guidelines. Such services have recently attracted criticism from
environmentalists for being high in waste.
Prior to the report, a discussion paper was released to which printing
and imaging solutions suppliers Fuji-Xerox, HP and Kyocera-Mita
endorsed the government’s plans.