According to previous studies by the European Commission, around 2% of carbon dioxide emissions in Europe come from the use of IT and telecom-related products in the provision of services. Similar studies, at a global level, show around 1.4%. (A study showing this is for example this https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/3027

As the number and use of IT and telecom products grows worldwide, so do the industry's carbon emissions and energy consumption.

However, other sectors of the economy and society account for the remaining 98% of carbon emissions. The industry provides a range of innovative IT and telecom solutions that reduce the environmental impact in a number of areas of society. There are solutions to replace physical travel, streamline and optimize transport and meetings, and control and regulate processes in industry, fisheries and agriculture, as well as in housing and construction. This is where the tech industry is expected to be able to make the greatest contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in society and thus contribute to sustainable social development.

The EU Ecodesign Directive sets out minimum requirements for the maximum allowable energy consumption of different products. There are requirements for televisions, simple set-top boxes, monitors, external power supplies and stand-by consumption. The European Commission has proposed to bring more product categories in the industry under the scope of the directive in the coming years.

On March 1, 2021, the EU energy label was updated for certain product groups (e.g. TVs and monitors). The scale was changed to A-G (from the old A+++-D scale) and the features shown on the energy label were changed. The calculations for the energy labels were also updated, so the new label is not directly comparable to the old one.

Yes, there are a relatively large number of voluntary initiatives aimed at further improving the energy efficiency of IT and telecom products. For example, the EU has developed a Code of Conduct (CoC) for broadband communication equipment, set-top boxes and data centers. Read more on the Commission's website https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/energy-efficiency/code-conduct/datacentres.

Furthermore, there is a Voluntary Agreement (VA) between the EU and the IT and telecom industry regarding chargers for mobile phones and for printer products that aims to make the products more energy efficient.

Standardization organizations such as ETSI (for the telecom sector) also develop standards on energy consumption (read more under Environmental legislation).

"GreenGrid" is another non-profit initiative at global level between the private and public sectors to increase the resource efficiency of data centers and other facilities.

ENERGY STAR® is a US energy efficiency label that has been in existence since 1992. Its purpose is to provide simple and credible information to consumers and businesses to enable informed product purchasing decisions with the goal of reducing the energy consumption of products while providing cost savings to the consumer. The label is backed by the US Department of Energy and its equivalent of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

This global energy label is often used as a requirement in public and private procurement in Sweden as well as in several other countries.

More information can be found at www.energystar.gov

Since the mid-1990s, most member companies have stopped using flame retardants belonging to the PBB and PBDE families, substances that the EU banned in 2006 through the so-called RoHS Directive (read more under Environmental legislation). Other substances phased out by the industry include lead, mercury and cadmium in batteries, as well as certain chlorinated paraffins. In 2010, an active phase-out of mercury in flat screens in both laptops and TVs began and has now been completely phased out.

The industry is now intensively looking for good alternatives to phthalates (plasticizers) used to soften plastics and rubber, for example in electrical cables. Many companies have also decided to reduce their use of PVC in both products and packaging materials.

When chemical substances are to be replaced or substituted, great care is needed as the new substance, the substitute, may be poorly studied in terms of its environmental properties. In other words, introducing new substances requires extensive studies. Furthermore, the technical properties of the substitutes must be at least as good as the substances they are replacing.

These are mainly chemical substances on the candidate list of the EU chemicals regulation REACH. These can be found at www.echa.europa.eu
(Read more under Legislation)

The vast majority of chemical substances in IT and telecom products are chemically bound in the different parts of the products, e.g. in their plastics, and therefore do not pose a risk when used as intended. The manufacturer has a legal product liability for this. Risks to humans and the environment may exist if the waste from these products is not disposed of in accordance with the applicable regulations during recycling.

The industry has also developed a standardized and international environmental declaration, ECMA-370, to communicate environmental information regarding the content and impact of products. Read more about this at www.ecma-international.org.

The chemicals tax is an excise tax introduced on July 1, 2017 on home electronics and white goods sold in Sweden, see further information on the Swedish Tax Agency's website. The purpose of the tax is to encourage suppliers to use less environmentally harmful flame retardants. Until now, companies based abroad or shipping goods from warehouses in other countries have not had to pay the chemical tax. However, as of October 1, 2020, the chemical tax also applies to foreign companies that sell goods to consumers in Sweden.

TechSverige and a number of other industry organizations have expressed criticism of how the tax was designed, see kemikalieskatten.se. In 2020, the Government commissioned the Swedish Chemicals Agency and the Swedish Tax Agency to evaluate the chemicals tax to find out whether it has had the intended effect, i.e. whether the taxed companies have changed the chemical content of their products. The authorities will also review the need for changes to the tax so that it leads to the set target, which is to be reported in May 2021. TechSverige is actively participating in this work.

The authorities' evaluation has not been able to establish that the presence of chlorine, bromine and phosphorus in flame retardants has decreased in the human home environment as a result of the chemicals tax.

"Most of the companies we spoke to say that the tax has not affected the goods they buy and resell. There are indications that the tax has affected a few companies' efforts to phase out hazardous flame retardants. The replacement of hazardous substances carried out with the tax as a driving force has thus been limited and involved high initial social costs," says Charlotte Berg, project manager at the Swedish Tax Agency.

The administrative burden associated with the chemicals tax is perceived by many companies as burdensome. On the one hand, administrative procedures relating to the tax are handled in manual processes, and on the other hand, it is time-consuming and costly to obtain information about the chemical content of the product.

See the Swedish Tax Agency's website for the full results of this evaluation here: https://www.skatteverket.se/omoss/press/nyheter/2020/nyheter/kemikalieskattenharbegransadeffekt.5.569165a01749e7ae789e31.html?fbclid=IwAR2_ZDWrEBxSPIcRRFkMtt_6BuPYm-sj_F8UvYNO1e044GwTfOqY-EEGkeQ

Environmental requirements for IT and telecom-related products fall into three categories:

- Ecodesign requirements

- Ban on the use of certain dangerous substances

- Producer responsibility (recycling)

The EU has specific directives in all three areas:

Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC): The Ecodesign Directive is a framework directive that sets product requirements for different categories of products in the form of various "implementing measures", which are in turn published as regulations. Work is ongoing to investigate whether there is a need for legislation within different product groups. These product groups are identified in a specific work program. Most of the regulations produced so far have only contained requirements on maximum permissible power consumption in standby and/or use mode for IT and telecom products. Discussions are ongoing to also include requirements that simplify the recycling process, thus stimulating a 'circular economy' where electronic waste becomes raw material for the next generation of products.

The Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment - "RoHS2", (2011/65/EU), has been applied since January 2013. The Directive includes requirements for a manufacturer's declaration, CE marking and the production of technical documentation as proof of compliance.

The use of chemical substances directly and in articles is also subject to the REACH Regulation (1907/2006), which contains information requirements, authorization requirements and bans on the use of certain chemicals.

The WEEE Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (2012/19/EU).

The Packaging Directive 94/62/EC sets requirements for packaging and its recycling.

Battery collection in the EU is governed by Directive 2006/66/EC as amended by Directive 2013/56/EU. In Sweden, the Directive was transposed by a new Swedish Battery Ordinance that entered into force on January 1, 2009.

In addition to product-related directives, there is also an Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU) (updated by Directive 2018/2002/EU), which aims to reduce the EU's energy consumption by 32% by 2030 compared to 'business as usual'. Among other things, the directive specifies requirements for energy savings by energy suppliers, the provision of advanced energy meters, public procurement, energy renovation of public buildings and the provision of energy audits. These energy audits will be offered to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For other companies, energy audits will be mandatory, as described in the Act (2014:266) on Energy Audits in Large Enterprises (EKL). A first audit would be reported in spring 2017 and thereafter conducted at least every 4 years. Detailed information is available from the Swedish Energy Agency.

Regulations are directly applicable as law in the Member States, while directives instead specify the requirement(s) that Member States should transpose into their national legislation. This leaves some risk of small national discrepancies. Most product legislation requirements are formulated as directives.

In 2016, an amendment was made to the Swedish Annual Accounts Act (1995:1554), adding a requirement for mandatory sustainability reporting. Many of TechSweden's members are covered by this requirement.

The Swedish companies covered by the sustainability reporting requirement are companies that meet at least two of the following three criteria:

• more than 250 employees
• a turnover of over SEK 350 million
• a balance sheet total of over 175 MSEK

A mandatory sustainability report for large companies should include the non-financial information needed to understand the company's development, position, performance and the impact of its activities. At a minimum, the report should include information on the environment, human and social conditions, respect for human rights and corruption. The first year for which the report had to be produced was the 2017 financial year.

In Sweden, the Swedish Energy Agency, the Swedish Chemicals Agency and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency have detailed information on the legal requirements for different products.

The National Board of Trade can also provide assistance regarding the requirements imposed on products in other countries.

For global requirements, the World Trade Organization's list of its members' contact points for information on national technical regulations can also help. https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/envir_e.htm

• They create reliable methods to manage environmental work
• They help companies to comply with laws and policies developed, for example, in the EU.
• They allow better metrics for comparison.
• They make it easier for companies to demonstrate their environmental performance as they can certify themselves after being audited by an independent external certification body.
• Holding a valid certificate means active work that is periodically audited.

Examples of standards in sustainability:

ISO14001 - standard for environmental management systems

ISO14008 - standard for monetary valuation of environmental aspects

ISO14033 - standard for quantitative environmental information

ISO14034 - Environmental management standard - Verification of environmental technologies

ISO26000 - guiding standards for social responsibility

ISO27001 - Information security management system

ISO45001 - Occupational health and safety management system

ISO50001 - Standard for energy management systems

In addition, there are several technical standards for different sectors:

Electrical standards at Cenelec

Telecom standards at ETSI

Standards at CEN

Virtually all customers have requirements for the energy efficiency of products. Very common requirements are for IT products to meet the latest ENERGY STAR and/or other eco-label requirements, but also the EU Code of Conduct for mobile phones and associated chargers. Other common requirements include product noise levels and product life cycle management, as well as chemical content requirements (e.g. the absence of certain flame retardants), RoHS and REACH declarations.

See more under the section 'Chemical substances and materials'.

In private procurement there are no restrictions. However, in public procurement, the basic principles of the Public Procurement Act (LOU) must be taken into account. This states, among other things, that environmental requirements must be linked to the actual object of the procurement, the requirements must be possible to control and follow up, the requirements must not be arbitrary or manifestly unreasonable and must not favor or disadvantage certain suppliers.

The customer may also require that the sustainability report is attached, or that the contracting authority provides a link to an external website, e.g. ansvarsfullt.se, where a sustainability report can be made for the tender in question.

There are several different types of documents and in public procurement, all of these below mentioned verifications must be accepted as equivalent in order for a certain environmental requirement to be considered fulfilled:

The industry's own environmental declaration according to ECMA-370 (The Eco Declaration), which has been an international standard since 2006 and is available for free download at www.ecma-international.org.

Ecolabeling certificates such as the EU Flower, the German Blue Angel, the Nordic Swan, TCO Certified and the Epeat Registry, the latter two covering both social and environmental requirements.

Company internal/specific environmental declarations.

So-called supplier declaration - a document signed by the supplier stating how a certain requirement is fulfilled.

Declaration of Conformity or EU Declaration, which is a document in which the manufacturer of a product certifies that the product meets the requirements of the relevant EU Directives. Every CE marked product must have an EU declaration.

Only those requirements that meet the conditions of the Public Procurement Act (LoU) may be used. It is therefore up to the contracting authority to carefully examine which ecolabeling principles are appropriate.

No, this is not allowed. However, in the case of a new call for tenders, i.e. the call for tenders itself, the environmental requirements that were originally evaluation requirements can be given a higher or lower weighting.

Are the Swedish Public Procurement Agency's criteria suitable for use in procurement?

Most requirements are well suited to public procurement as the criteria have been developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders in both the private and public sectors.

Yes, this is important and a condition under the LOU principle of equal treatment.

Our view is that if environmental requirements go beyond those in EU directives and regulations, they may interfere with the free movement of goods within the EU.

Read more in the Swedish Competition Authority's publication "Environmental and social considerations in public procurement" (pages 30 and 37) from 2011, "Long-term effects of green procurement" (4.2.3 Conclusions) from 2017, and in the National Board of Trade's publication from November 2011 "Internal market guide for municipalities" (see special checklist on p. 12).

EU GPP website

EU public procurement rules website

Public Procurement Agency https://www.upphandlingsmyndigheten.se/regler-och-lagstiftning/hallbarhet-i-upphandlingsreglerna

ENERGY STAR( R ) compliant products https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/

The Eco Declaration, the environmental declaration of ECMA International https://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-370.htm

Yes, there are. For IT and telecom products, there are about 70 different ecolabels worldwide with varying criteria.

An eco-label contains a large number of environmental requirements that can differ somewhat between labels, which can be confusing for consumers. On the positive side, however, consumers who want to choose products that are less harmful to the environment do not need to familiarize themselves with all the details of the environmental problems that exist for different products and what requirements they should set if they choose a product with an ecolabel, as all labels guarantee a high minimum level.

Yes, but the number varies considerably, both between different labels and between different product categories. Some of the labels available on the Swedish market are ENERGY STAR, TCO Certified, Nordic Swan and EU Ecolabel. More information can be found at:

- www.energystar.gov

- www.tcocertified.se

- www.svanen.nu

- http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/

Primarily for consumers who may have neither the time nor the skills to understand what the different criteria actually mean. Professional buyers and purchasers, on the other hand, often need more detailed information and supporting material to make an assessment of products. The industry's environmental declaration, the IT Eco Declaration (according to ECMA-370) is a good complement for such comparisons.

IT products are manufactured for a global market. In this arena, the number of eco-labels, even for the same product, is very large and they have different environmental requirements. It is therefore not cost-effective for industry to provide different variants of the same product model that meet the requirements of each eco-label.

According to the Ordinance on Producer Responsibility for Electrical Equipment (SFS 2014:1075), companies that import and place such products on the Swedish market must register and report information to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's EE register on, among other things, the amount of electrical equipment and batteries that the producer placed on the market during the previous year, as well as collected and treated waste.

Examples of additional requirements:

- Products shall be marked with the crossed-out wheelie bin and information allowing the responsible producer to be identified.

- The producer must be part of a collection scheme (applies to household products; producers of non-household products may have their own schemes).

- Take care of the waste from their products.

- Inform and consult on how to collect the products.

Batteries can contain substances that negatively affect our environment. It is therefore important that all batteries are collected. Since January 1, 2009, there is producer responsibility for batteries in Sweden. This means that producers must take responsibility for ensuring that all batteries sold are also collected and recycled.

As a producer, you will do the following, among other things:

- Register and report in the Swedish EPA's EE and battery register

- Label your batteries

- Be part of a collection system

- Educate and inform

The EE and Battery Register at the Swedish EPA is for companies that manufacture and/or import and sell electrical and electronic equipment (EE) and/or batteries in Sweden. The company must register here and report the requested information.

You who manufacture and sell electrical and electronic products.

You who bring in and then sell electrical and electronic products.

You sell directly to a user in another EU country, if there is no producer there to receive the products (known as distance selling)

The EE Register is also accessible to producers from other EU countries.

Producer is not you as:

is only a retailer in Sweden, i.e. does not manufacture or import products itself

is only the distributor (and not the importer)

only lend, rent or lease electrical products

Source: www.naturvårdsverket.se

In the context of producer responsibility for batteries, who is the producer?

You who manufacture and sell or transfer batteries in Sweden

You who import and sell or transfer batteries in Sweden

The EE and Battery Register is also available to producers from other EU countries.

Producer is not you as:

does not manufacture or import batteries itself, for example a battery retailer

borrow, rent or lease batteries.

Source: www.naturvårdsverket.se

El-Kretsen has existed since 2001 and was formed and owned by the business community to take care of the electronics put on the market. TechSverige is one of the owners. El-Kretsen's task is to help producers meet the requirements of the Act on Producer Responsibility for Electrical Equipment (SFS 2014:1075) and the Ordinance on Producer Responsibility for Batteries (SFS 2008:834) by offering a nationwide collection system.

Yes, it does. Recipro offers the electronics industry complete recycling solutions and circular flow of the plastics in products. Together with its members, suppliers and society at large, Recipro works to minimize the environmental impacts and costs associated with end-of-life electronic products.

Recipo and El-Kretsen cooperate and thus both systems cover Sweden and can offer a comprehensive management of producer responsibility.

Battery collection in the EU is regulated by Directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators. In Sweden, the directive was transposed by a new Swedish regulation on producer responsibility for batteries (SFS 2008:834), which came into force on January 1, 2009.

We usually talk about sustainability from three perspectives: social, economic and ecological sustainability. Social sustainability is people-centric and addresses our human rights, such as issues of discrimination, health and safety, child labor and corruption. What is included in social sustainability reflects society's expectations at a given time and can therefore change. Changes in society lead to changes in expectations of organizations, and organizations' social responsibility can thus be referred to in different ways. The concepts cover both the organization's internal work and the work carried out in external collaboration, for example with suppliers and others in society.

Other terms for social sustainability that are also used include:

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

ESG, which stands for Environmental, Social and (corporate) Governance, is not least commonly used in the financial sector but is now spreading to other sectors. This concept includes both environmental and social sustainability.

As the industry is largely global and internationally competitive, many of the social challenges are fundamentally about the different levels of social development in different parts of the world. The fact that legislation and compliance with laws relating to the environment or labor law, for example, do not have the same tradition, or are not equally established in all countries, poses a major challenge for companies that want to operate in these markets without making concessions on their own responsibility. Poor working conditions, unregulated working hours, breaches of working time laws and low wages are some examples of social responsibility shortcomings that still exist in many parts of the world.

The challenges are common to many companies in the tech sector, not least because many companies use the same subcontractors for different components, and companies are working both on their own and joint efforts to improve and prevent the shortcomings that exist in the long term.

In many parts of the IT industry, companies operate in a very long chain of supply chains, which makes the challenge of ensuring that social and ethical requirements are met at each stage of the supply chain even greater. The image below gives an example of what a supply chain for a common IT product might look like and is taken from TechSweden's information on Sustainable Supply Chains.

Ensuring social responsibility throughout the supply chain is a complex and extensive task for companies that may have thousands of suppliers. It is particularly challenging to set and monitor requirements for the downstream suppliers, i.e. subcontractors of suppliers.

Ensuring social responsibility throughout the supply chain is a complex and extensive task for companies that may have thousands of suppliers. It is particularly challenging to set and monitor requirements for downstream suppliers, i.e. subcontractors of suppliers.

Companies in the sector are working, both individually and collectively, to ensure compliance at all stages of the supply chain:

- The ILO core conventions cover areas such as discrimination, child labour, freedom of association and forced labour.

- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

- UN Declaration of Human Rights

- The UN Global Compact is a set of international principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption for businesses.

- High standards on health and safety, the environment, ethics, anti-corruption and limited use of so-called conflict minerals.

Examples of tools used at company level to ensure social responsibility in the supply chain:

- Management system

- Code of Conduct, with requirements for social responsibility

- Purchasing requirements and supplier assessments

- Risk assessments

- System for supplier reporting on the implementation of social requirements

- Audit and inspection of selected suppliers

- Action plans in case of non-compliance

- External communication on social compliance

Companies can choose to join various industry initiatives. Examples of industry initiatives to ensure social responsibility in the supply chain

The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) has developed a common code of conduct used by operators in the electronics industry.

RMI (Responsible Mineral Initiative)

JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association) is working on several sustainability initiatives.

GeSI (Global e-Sustainability Initiative/Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative)

JAC (Joint Audit Cooperation)

Many companies have internal systems for monitoring their own sustainability work and responsibility requirements. The IT and telecom industry is positive about the trend towards more and more monitoring. Although on-site monitoring is a major challenge for all parties, it provides better opportunities to work together to improve the situation at suppliers.

The RBA also offers approaches and methods for conducting follow-up audits. These audits are often conducted by third-party auditors. Find out more here.

Today, there is no comprehensive legislation in the field of social sustainability, but there are a number of legislative requirements in its various parts, for example regarding the responsibility of organizations for sustainability reporting, discrimination and anti-corruption.

Since December 1, 2016, Swedish companies that meet at least two of the following three criteria must prepare a sustainability report (the law has been applied from the 2017 financial year):

more than 250 employees.

a turnover of over SEK 350 million.

a balance sheet total of over SEK 175 million.

The sustainability report can be presented either as part of the management report or as a separate annex from the annual report. The sustainability report must include information on the impact of the company's activities in the following areas: environment, social conditions, human resources, respect for human rights, anti-corruption. The purpose of the law is to make information on companies' sustainability performance more transparent and comparable.

At EU level, there is legislation on sustainability reporting for large companies (Directive 2014/95/EU).

In Sweden, Government Bill 2015/16:3 "Clearer accounting rules and new reporting requirements for the extractive industries" proposes changes to the rules on annual accounts that make it easier for smaller companies to report. Among other things, it clarifies what is meant by ownership interest, associated companies and jointly controlled companies. The bill also contains proposals for a new law on reporting payments to authorities by larger companies active in the extractive industry.

Read more here https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/proposition/tydligare-redovisningsregler-och-nya_H3033

EU Regulation 2017/821 sets out the obligation for EU companies to ensure that their imports of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold are responsible and that their supply chains do not contribute to financing armed conflict. The Regulation's due diligence rules apply from January 1, 2021.

In countries outside the EU, there is national legislation that in different ways affects what is included in the concept of social sustainability, for example on labor law and social insurance.

Companies' work towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not regulated by law but nevertheless guides many of the companies in the industry.

The International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations' trade union body, has drawn up a large number of conventions in the field of labor law. Of these, eight are particularly important. They are known as the core conventions and represent a minimum level of labour law in all states and for all workers globally. The ILO's core conventions cover four areas: Freedom of association and the right to organize, Forced labour, Discrimination and Child labour. Together with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on Human Rights, they often form the basis for the development of codes of conduct.

Find out more about the ILO.

Find out more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and human rights conventions.

Find out more about the ILO.

Find out more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and human rights conventions.

ISO 26000 (published in 2010) is an international standard for social responsibility. The standard contains only voluntary guidelines (no rules) and therefore does not lead to certification.

ISO 45001 is an international management system standard for occupational health and safety. It helps organizations to systematically manage occupational health and safety and sets requirements for safety, psychosocial work environment, management commitment and employee participation. In 2018, ISO 45001 replaced the British standard OHSAS 18001, which had previously been the most commonly used health and safety standard.

In 2006, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) published guidelines on corporate sustainability reporting. Since 2016, these have become a standard. Work on the guidelines started in the late 1990s and involved many stakeholder groups, resulting in them covering many different areas. According to the GRI, the guidelines also support the implementation of activities to strengthen the economic, social and environmental values of companies and organisations.

The UN Global Compact (founded in 2000) is an initiative and a network initiated by the United Nations with the aim of creating international principles on human rights, labor issues, the environment and corruption aimed at companies. The ten principles of the Global Compact are based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO core conventions on human rights at work, the Rio Declaration and the UN Convention against Corruption. Approximately 15,000 (2020) companies and other social actors from 160 countries have voluntarily joined the Global Compact and signed up to its principles.

SA 8000 is an international standard, which companies can certify against, in order to integrate the social and ethical impacts of their activities into their management systems.

The Dow Jones Sustainability Index is an instrument designed to help investors consider sustainability issues when choosing companies to invest in.

EcoVadis assesses suppliers from over 160 countries and over 190 industries (2020) according to a proprietary methodology, based on the company's policies, initiatives and performance in areas related to the environment, labor, business practices, and supply chain.

SB Insights publishes the Sustainable Brand Index annually, which is the largest brand study on sustainability in Europe. The Sustainable Brand Index measures how consumers and other stakeholders perceive brands and how well they work with sustainability. More than 58,000 consumers in eight countries and more than 1,400 brands across 35 industries (2021) participate in the study annually.

More standards can be found here [Link to standards chapter].

No.

The Swedish Agency for Public Procurement offers support for setting requirements in this area in procurement. Social and ethical aspects are increasingly being added in areas where only environmental information has previously been requested in procurements. There are also several foreign processes, such as GPP (Green and Sustainable Public Procurement).

Yes, partly. For example, since 2012, social requirements are included in TCO Certified's criteria for sustainability labeling of e.g. monitors and computers.

The EU Ecolabel criteria include a number of social requirements, and requirements concerning conflict minerals for monitors, for example.

Yes, information on social work and ethical responsibility is requested both in public procurement and in procurement and purchasing by private actors. Some requirements are mandatory and others are formulated more as wishes for the direction of sustainability work. Information on social and ethical responsibility is increasingly used in marketing to help customers make sustainable choices.

Yes, but not to a sufficient extent. The IT and telecoms industry is calling for improved dialogue and constructive forms of cooperation on requirements and procurement, with both the public and private sectors, to better demonstrate and meet social and ethical requirements.

The industry welcomes the fact that the monitoring of social requirements is becoming more common among public customers, as monitoring is a prerequisite for the requirements to have a long-term effect and for competition-neutral procurement.

There are a number of international collaborations and networks for sustainability work in the supply chain, for example

The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA)is a non-profit organization of electronics manufacturing, retail, automotive and toy companies committed to working towards a sustainable electronics industry through social responsibility in global supply chains.

With more than 400 member companies, the Responsible Minerals Initiative is one of the most widely used and respected resources for companies from a range of industries to address responsible mineral sourcing in their supply chains. They provide companies with tools and resources to make sourcing decisions that improve compliance and support responsible sourcing of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

Good Electronics (International Network on Human Rights and Sustainability in Electronics)

GeSI (Global e-Sustainability Initiative/Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative)

The Sustainability Consortium (Science and tools that improve product sustainability)

SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations) is an independent, non-profit organization that works on all aspects of sustainability, including researching the impact of multinational corporations and their activities on people and the environment worldwide.

The European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM) is a multi-stakeholder partnership with the aim of increasing the share of responsibly produced minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRA) and supporting socially responsible mineral extraction that contributes to local development.

ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) is an international non-governmental organization promoting sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical advice to local governments to achieve sustainability goals.

Founded in 2004 by a group of leading electronics companies, the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) (formerly the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC)) is a non-profit organization of electronics manufacturing, retail, automotive and toy companies committed to supporting the rights and well-being of workers and communities around the world affected by the global supply chain. The RBA has more than 170 members worldwide and as an RBA member, you commit to comply with and be held accountable to a common Code of Conduct. In addition, they commit to using a range of RBA training and assessment tools to support continuous improvement in their social, environmental and ethical responsibilities in their supply chains.

JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association) is a Japanese trade association for electronics and IT companies, working on several sustainability initiatives. Among other things, JEITA is a partner of the Responsible Mineral Initiative (RMI) (formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI)).

Some of TechSweden's members based in Asia are members of JEITA and actively contribute to the work of the organization.

Conflict minerals refer to the elements tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (also known as 3TG after their English names Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, Gold). These are mined and extracted from mines in conflict areas (e.g. the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo). Cobalt is also extracted from conflict areas.

These are used in small quantities in many consumer products especially in the automotive, white goods, electronics, aerospace, packaging, construction, lighting, machinery and tools, jewelry, and IT and telecom industries.

The industry strives to conserve, reuse and recycle these minerals and metals in a circular economy.

Companies want to avoid contributing to conflict by sourcing minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. As companies in the IT industry operate in a very long supply chain, there are many links between companies and the extraction of conflict minerals, which makes requirements and monitoring complex. What the industry is primarily working on, both industry-wide and within companies, is to improve the traceability of the origin of minerals.

Some examples of initiatives are:

- The Responsible Mineral Initiative (RMI) (formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI)) aims to clarify where the minerals used in IT and telecom products are sourced, including through a program of third-party audits of smelters to ensure that they do not use conflict minerals. Smelters that pass the audit are listed on the RMI website. Over 400 companies (2021) are partners or members of the initiative.

- After years of negotiations, the European Council adopted on April 3, 2017 the Conflict Minerals Regulation (Regulation 2017/821) to stop the financing of armed groups through trade in conflict minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold). The regulation entered into force on May 17, 2017. Under the Regulation, EU companies are obliged to ensure that their imports of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold are responsible and that their supply chains do not contribute to the financing of armed conflict. These due diligence rules have been applied since 1 January 2021. The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation will be evaluated in 2023.

- In the US, a law (Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act H.R. 4173, which became Public Law No: 111-203 - Part 1502) has been in force since 2010, requiring foreign companies to disclose whether conflict minerals have been used in their products. Developments and requirements in the United States are of great importance, as they affect the entire global market.

Put simply, a circular economy is the opposite of the traditional, linear economy we have today. Instead of making, buying, using and then throwing things away, in a circular economy you use everything you made for as long as you can. And when things are used up, they are reused and recycled as much as possible, over and over again - all to reduce the strain on the Earth's resources and our waste. It's a modern word for 'circularity'.

Linear economy

Source: Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, https://www.naturskyddsforeningen.se/cirkular-ekonomi

Products need to be easier to repair so that they can be used for longer. Product design that facilitates the repair of different parts over time is called circular design.