Razer’s new Ecologos will tell you just how green your new hardware is, or how guilty you should feel
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Razer has once again made a step in a greener direction. No, I’m not talking about the retina-destroying colour of its peripherals. The company has just announced it’s going to be slapping Type One Ecologo Sustainable Product Certifications from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) on two of its gaming mice.
Razer’s partner for this, UL, is the same company that owns 3DMark (opens in new tab). That’s one of the tests we use to benchmark hardware in our labs here at PC Gamer, and one name we’ve trusted for years. Apart from the odd bias blip in its history. Anyway, these eco certifications from UL will be the first of their kind to go out to gaming mice.
First, to the Deathadder Essential, then an updated version of the Basilisk V3 (opens in new tab) will be coming along with its new green credentials.
If you do find yourself staring down one of Razer’s new Ecolabel products, you might be wondering if these are just a load of hot air. Anyone can stick a label on a product nowadays and claim eco-superiority, can’t they?
To put your mind at ease, here are the six hoops Razer had to jump through to meet official public standards and get that certification:
- The supply chain complies with the EU’s restriction of chemicals candidate list (REACH).
- The product is dermally biocompatible—i.e. the materials won’t damage your skin—and it complies with the restricted hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products (RoHS) directive.
- It’s a low energy consumption device… I mean, I’d hope so from a mouse.
- End-of-life management is up to scratch, or yes, you can recycle or send them back for reuse. Oh, and Razer’s going to make repair parts available, even three years after end of life.
- No heavy metals or chlorine are used in the packaging.
- Then there’s the corporate side of things. Razors sustainability reports are made publicly available. Then there’s the screened conflict mineral policy, as well as the ‘take-back’ program that gives vouchers for the return of old products.
Similar initiatives do already exist across the peripherals space. A few of Logitech’s mice have some form of sustainability label, for example. In fact, according to Logitech’s climate action page (opens in new tab) it was the first consumer electronics company to slap “detailed carbon impact labels” on its products. A lot of these tend to be single attribute claims, though, meaning they only fulfil one or maybe two of the eco requirements, against the six that the full UL Standard 2710 Ecolabel required of Razer.
All this is basically another way for Razer to prove it’s doing its part; alongside its ocean cleaning robots (opens in new tab), or Sneki’s valiant quest to save the trees with eco-sneakers (opens in new tab), and head pillows (opens in new tab). Since Razer’s been expanding its horizons as a sustainable lifestyle brand, we’ve even seen eco toilet roll (opens in new tab) collaborations. But this project centres around its own products, rather than helping out eco-startups.
At first, the full type one Ecolabel will only appear on the Razer Deathadder Essential and Basilisk V3, but the company is making a pledge to extend that across its entire product line, even up to its Blade laptops, starting from this year. That’s some commitment, although there’s no solid date for when all products will be certified yet.
I suppose that’s going to be quite the undertaking, and I’m glad to see gaming products getting the eco-treatment, even if it’s just two of our favourite gaming mice for now.
The changes will come by the end of 2022, and you can learn more about Ecologo certifications here (opens in new tab).
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