Apple in the doghouse

The City of San Fransisco has stopped buying Apple computers after Apple pulled its products from a green-electronics certification registry. City said that employees of the city's 50 agencies won't be able to use city funds to buy Apple laptops or desktops because of Apple’s removal of their products from a voluntary registration scheme called EPEAT. San Francisco's chief information officer, Jon Walton, told CNET that the change is due to an established policy requires the city purchase only EPEAT-certified desktops, laptops, and monitors unless there is a waiver – for example where the police might need special equipment.  The EPEAT registry was created by government agencies, activist groups, and manufacturers, including Apple, and requires electronics be easy to recycle and have higher energy efficiency. Officials hope Apple will reconsider taking its products off the list, but EPEAT CEO Robert Frisbee told the Journal that Apple's latest laptop, the Mac Book Pro with high resolution retina screen, would not have been eligible for certification because the computer's battery is glued into its case, which makes recycling the toxic parts difficult.More at http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57469635-37/city-of-san-francisco-to-stop-buying-apple-computers/?tag=nl.e496