Following news that Apple is pulling its devices from the from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry, The city of San Francisco has become one of the first local government entities to announce that it will be barring most purchases of Apple computers.
Following last week’s news that Apple had pulled all 39 of its qualifying Macs from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry, it was suggested that Apple would lose business with federal, state, and local governments in the United States. Many agencies require that most or all computer purchases be limited to products listed on the EPEAT registry.
San Francisco Department of Environment officials said on Monday that they would send out letters informing all 50 of the city’s agencies that Apple laptops and desktops will no longer qualify for purchase with city funds.
“We are disappointed that Apple chose to withdraw from EPEAT,” said Melanie Nutter, director of San Francisco’s Department of Environment, “and we hope that the city saying it will not buy Apple products will make Apple reconsider its participation.”
While city agencies can still ask for waivers to be allowed to purchase Apple computers, San Francisco’s chief information officer Jon Walton calls that process a “long” and “onerous” one that will make it “very problematic to procure Apple products.”
