CEA 2013 Sustainability Report Illustrates CE Industry’s Environmental Progress, Commitment to Transparency

Arlington, VA – The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today released the CEA 2013 Sustainability Report highlighting industry progress and leadership on green initiatives, from electronics recycling and energy efficiency to updated testing procedures and voluntary stakeholder agreements.

The report, an update to CEA’s second sustainability report released in 2010, tracks the industry’s green efforts throughout a consumer electronics product’s entire lifecycle. The CEA 2013 Sustainability Report contains over two dozen case studies from various CE companies such as Best Buy, Sharp and FulTech Solutions illustrating challenges and accomplishments in their environmental efforts. The report also documents and illustrates green practices across the industry.

“Consumers increasingly want innovative, eco-friendly products, and our industry is really delivering,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. “Leveraging the brightest minds in our industry and working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders, CEA and our industry partners continue to launch initiatives and forge partnerships that provide innovative and sustainable solutions for consumers, communities and our planet.”

“I commend CEA and the electronics industry on their efforts to reduce the climate impact of their products through the ENERGY STAR program and other sustainability initiatives,” said Sarah Dunham, director of EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs.

Following are several highlights from the report:


• Greener designs: Companies such as Samsung Electronics — which in one year more than quadrupled the percentage of recycled plastics in its products — are achieving meaningful results through greener product designs and use of more sustainable materials for their electronics.



• Green packaging: Smaller, lighter and more efficient product package designs using recycled materials require fewer resources to produce. In 2012, LG surveyed suppliers to create a new database that list the recycled pulp content of each paper stock used for packaging TV and mobile phone products.



• Fewer environmental impacts at the International CES: The International CES® serves as the focal point for global innovation and also as a case study for how to bring more than 150,000 people together sustainably with fewer environmental impacts. CEA, producer of the International CES, is setting an example by recycling more than 75 percent of show materials, and repurposing CES badges for future use.



• More energy efficient products: CE companies are leveraging breakthrough technology to reduce power requirements in devices big and small. Thoughtful product design has enabled Panasonic to bring to market an exceptionally energy-efficient Blu-ray disc recorder, the DMR-BRT220. Its annual power consumption is only 18.9 kWh — or less than 2.2 watts per hour of operation. To support key metrics for energy use, CEA also organized a multi-stakeholder group to revise test procedures for measuring power consumption for televisions and set-top boxes.



• eCycling: In 2011, CEA announced the eCycling Leadership Initiative to increase the amount of recycled consumer electronics to one billion pounds annually by 2016. So far, the CE industry is on track recycling 585 million pounds of products in 2012. The CE industry also believes that the quality of recycling is just as critical as the quantity, and is committed to using vendors that employ only the highest recycling standards, including third-party certification systems R2® and e-Stewards®.



• Voluntary stakeholder agreements: In late 2012, CEA, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and 15 industry-leading video providers and device manufacturers signed an unprecedented Set-Top Box Energy Conservation Agreement that will result in annual residential electricity savings of at least $1.5 billion.



• Consumer education: CEA’s GreenerGadgets.org website informs consumers about how they can make smarter choices to save energy, reduce waste and ensure responsible recycling at end-of-life.


Of course, a report on environmental sustainability should not itself be a source of unnecessary use of resources. The report is online as an interactive report to avoid consumption of printing and paper resources. The CEA 2013 Sustainability Report is easy to navigate, contains several videos, and includes the report builder option to let readers pull together the pages of most interest.

The full report is available at CE.org/sustainability.

About CEA

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the technology trade association representing the $203 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also owns and produces the International CES – The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA’s industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org, www.DeclareInnovation.com and through social media.