TCO Certified

TCO Certified is a global, comprehensive sustainability certification with everything included. It addresses sustainability issues connected to IT products and their supply chains and helps you make responsible choices, reduce risk, and meet regulatory obligations. Like thousands of other organizations from all over the world, you can include TCO Certified in your procurement process to support your sustainable IT initiatives and efforts. The criteria target issues in four key areas: climate, substances, circularity and supply chain. All criteria are mandatory — certified product models must meet all criteria. Thousands of certified products, including computers, displays and mobile devices, are available worldwide. The criteria in TCO Certified promote social and environmental responsibility across the entire product life cycle. To drive impactful change, the criteria are updated continuously. In total, we spend more than 10,000 hours on criteria development each year. All criteria are mandatory—an IT brand can’t pick and choose which ones to fulfill for any product category. TCO Certified targets issues in four key areas: climate, substances, circularity and supply chain to help you make responsible choices, reduce risk, and meet regulatory obligations. To reduce direct (scope 2) and indirect (scope 3) emissions, our criteria promote product longevity, energy efficiency in products and factories, and increased demand for renewable energy. Products must be designed to last longer to lower the annual product carbon footprint. Scope 3 emissions are reduced through energy management systems and the use of renewable energy in manufacturing. Additional emission reductions in manufacturing are incentivized, and best practices are shared to speed up the pace of change. To improve chemical safety in products, packaging, and manufacturing, we require substances to be assessed and verified as safer before use. Our list of accepted substances is updated continuously, with new substance types and parts of the supply chain. TCO Certified Accepted Substance List is public and can be used to promote the use of safer substances across all industries. The current list includes cleaners and solvents, flame retardants, plasticizers, and stabilizers. To promote a more circular IT industry, our criteria ensure that products are designed for a long life and that components and materials can be reused and circulated effectively. Products must be designed to last, reducing the need for frequent replacements and cutting down on e-waste. A minimum of five years of supported product lifetime is required, including warranties and free security and functionality updates. Products must be easy to repair and upgrade, extending their life and reducing the need for new devices. Certified products are assigned a unique product identifier, enabling digital product passports that facilitate the transition to more circular practices. We work systematically to address factory issues and specific hotspots, reducing environmental risks and ensuring safer conditions throughout IT product supply chains. Factories must adhere to labor, health, and safety laws, ILO core conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, anti-bribery standards, and more. We enforce regular, independent factory audits to verify compliance. Corrective action plans are required for all non-conformities. IT brands must disclose major sub-suppliers in their supply chains, including key factories and mineral sourcing locations. Independent verification of compliance is the most important part of driving real and lasting change. With TCO Certified, product tests and factory audits are carried out before a certificate is issued and during its full validity period. Independent experts spend more than 20,000 hours on audits and tests each year. All certified models are verified to meet all criteria, regardless of where the product is sold, so you can be