Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), one of the world's largest motherboard, barebone system and notebook manufacturers, has launched the ECS Green Competitive Advantage and Quality Plan. 

The initiative starts from the early engineering and product design stages, and includes the use of non-toxic materials, eco-friendly designs, and easier disassembly and recycling.

ECS claims that its plan complies with the RoHS Directive on non-toxic components, and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive on disassembly and recycling.

The ECS Green Competitive Advantage and Quality Plan comprises four non-toxic controls:

• Non-toxic supply control: starting in the product design stage, all components and raw materials must meet environmental rules
• Non-toxic material control: all components and raw materials must pass internal non-toxic testing
• Non-toxic production: all production facilities such as tooling and soldering have to meet all environmental standards and pass regular inspections
• Non-toxic quality control: all finished goods must pass non-toxic quality testing

EU-wide environmental regulations like RoHS, which came into power this year, WEEE, which may come into force in the UK next year, and the eco-design requirements for Energy-Using Products, have all forced industry along a green path.

Dell announced a suite of green credentials nearly 10 years ago, such as easily recoverable plastic parts and a pledge to use environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.

This early approach has stood Dell in good stead, and a recent Greenpeace report on green manufacturing in IT had the company at first place out of the top 14 IT and mobile manufacturers. It seems that the rest of the world is now following suit.