Contractors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have won praise, for the third year in a row, for their efforts to limit the environmental impact of their computers and other electronic equipment.
In 2018, over 95% of the electronics bought by all DOE contractors at Hanford were environmentally friendly, according to the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) ranking system, which is managed by the Green Electronics Council. The tool itself was developed with grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The ranking system helps companies vet office equipment, such as computers, servers, and electronic notebooks, on standards including greenhouse gas emissions, production of hazardous waste, and energy efficiency.
Purchases by Hanford contractors in 2018 eliminated 3.3 metric tons of hazardous waste and 20 metric tons of solid waste. The new electronics also saved enough electricity to supply 116 average homes for a year, according to a press release Monday from the Energy Department’s Richland Operations Office.
“This award is testament to the Hanford contractors’ partnership, working together under DOE’s leadership to develop processes and programs that protect the environment,” Todd Eckman, vice president for information management at Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance (MSA), which in charge of infrastructure support at Hanford, said in the release.
Other Hanford contractors cited in the DOE press release are CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation, which is in charge of remediation along the Columbia River and closure of the Plutonium Finishing Plant; occupational health services provider HPM Corp.; AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions, which manages 56 million gallons of hazardous and chemical waste in underground tanks at the site; and the former Wastren Advantage (now part of Veolia), which provides analysis and testing services at the 222-S Laboratory.
Contactor Mission Support Alliance applied for the award on behalf of itself and the other contractors listed in the press release, a DOE spokesperson said Thursday. The group is among 59 worldwide winners. Bechtel, which is building the Waste Treatment Plant, has its own procurement process and is not part of this award.
The Green Electronics Council is a nonprofit founded to run EPEAT. it also advocates for sustainable information technology.
