Released on: March 26, 2008, 10:03 am

Press Release Author: USB Source

Industry: Environment

Press Release Summary:
"In March of 2005 USB Source set out to achieve certification in all of the above
energy and environmental standards. Today with the completion of the Energy Star
certification we are now compliant in all 4 disciplines" states USB Source
spokesperson Paul Thomas.


Press Release Body: "We knew it was important not just for us but for the industry
as a whole to achieve these certifications. I do not think people truly understand
the impact that these products are having on the environment." states Thomas. "
Nearly 4 years ago, long before it was fashionable to be this green we recognized
the importance to be compliant to these standards, we are glad we are now there".
TCO Certification is a series of product certifications for office equipment (most
notably monitors). It is set by TCO Development, owned by the Swedish Confederation
of Professional Employees. The Certifications are named after years. Although
commonly associated with computer monitors, later TCO revisions also defined
standards for computers, keyboards, printers, flash drives mobile phones and more.
Energy Star was initially only a United States government program to promote energy
efficient consumer products. However during the past decade it has spread throughout
Canada, Australia and a dozen other countries. It is well known for its blue logo
appearing on many computer products and peripherals.
WEEE Compliance
The European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) applies to a
wide range of electronic and electrical products. WEEE encourages the collection,
treatment, recycling and recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment. WEEE
makes producers and importers responsible for financing of the collection, treatment
and recovery of WEEE. Reference: The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC, as amended by 2003/108/EC.
RoHS Compliance
The RoHS Directive will ban placement into the EU market of new electrical and
electronic equipment containing more than designated maximum allowable levels of
lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and
polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants, effective July 1, 2006.



An example of what USB Source went through to get certification is best summed up by
one recent stuffy.
In a recent American Technical Engineers Association (ATEA) study, it was discovered
that the energy expounded when a CD is burned on a conventional PC compared to the
energy consumed in the transfer of the same data load to a USB Flash Drive was on
average over 500% less. The study also showed that the energy and petrochemicals
consumed in the making of a conventional CD was 1.78 times more when compared to the
energy and plastics consumed in the construction of the average Flash Drive.
Considering that 97% of all CD sales are for 1 time use (non-rewritable) and that
nearly half of all CD's are used only 1.3 times (on average) for the simple transfer
of data from 1 computer to another, if you compare that large amount of energy
consumed to the small eco-footprint of a Flash Drive it is easy to see how these
relatively simple devices have been able to achieve such high environmental
standards. I 2007 an estimated 4 billion used CD's ended up in land fills
With the knowledge of this study, USB Source took the information and increased its
energy efficiency of it flash drive line and reclaimed all of it "waste material"
from the manufacturing process. This help with RoHS and WEEE compliancy as a result.








Web Site: http://www.usbsource.com

Contact Details: 17368 La Puenta Dr
Phoenix AZ
www.usbsource.com
1-866-844-7326