Razer, the global lifestyle brand for gamers, celebrated World Environment Day, by announcing that the Basilisk V3 and the DeathAdder Essential, are the first gaming mice to achieve an ECOLOGO certification by global safety science leader, UL. The mice have passed UL2710, the Outline of Investigation for Sustainability for Portable Electronics, which certifies them as sustainable products.
World Environment Day is celebrated annually on 5 June and is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of the environment.
Razer has undergone the certification process to assure its fans that its best-selling mice meet strict environmental performance industry standards. The ECOLOGO Mark achievement means that the products have been evaluated by an independent scientific third-party. Razer having the first ECOLOGO-certified gaming mice is a tribute to the brand’s commitment to making greener products, which is also a major pillar in its ten-year sustainability plan #GoGreenWithRazer. Razer’s award-winning hardware includes high-performance gaming peripherals and Blade gaming laptops.
Razer chose these mice for certification not just because they are best-sellers, but because they are essential to any gamer’s battle station due to their speed, customizability, and comfort. To certify them with the ECOLOGO® Mark, UL looked at several sustainability criteria. They evaluated that the mice comply with EU hazardous chemical restricted substance regulations and have also been assessed for skin irritation and sensitization. UL also evaluated Razer’s process of repair and replacement management covering ease of product disassembly by authorized service providers, to how Razer communicates components requiring selective waste treatment to service providers.
Sustainable packaging is another criterion the mice fulfilled as they are boxed with packaging made of FSC certified material, free of heavy metals and chlorine and printed in sustainable soy-ink so they can be easily recycled.
Finally, UL also inspected Razer’s facilities to certify that the mice were manufactured in facilities committed to environmentally responsible management as evidenced by certification to ISO 14001.
“What better way to celebrate World Environment Day than to share with our community that the very mice that help them win in games are also a win for the environment,” says Kenneth Ng, Sustainability Manager at Razer. “Unlike companies making their own claims about their products being sustainable, we go the extra mile to prove to our fans that our products are truly sustainable. Our community of gamers can rest assured that their favorite mice have been thoroughly vetted by a trusted scientific organization that looked at a comprehensive list of criteria to award us with the ECOLOGO Certification.”
“Through the use of the ECOLOGO Mark, companies like Razer can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and a cleaner environment through credible, third-party review and certification by one of the most trusted ecolabeling programs in the world,” said Doug Lockard, vice president and general manager for the Retail and Consumer Products group at UL. “Ecolabels, such as an ECOLOGO® Certification, UL GREENGUARD Certification, Environmental Product Declarations or Environmental Claim Validation, can help customers make informed purchasing decisions and select products with the desired environmental and sustainability attributes.”
Razer and UL to advance the sustainable manufacturing of gaming products.
This is not the first time Razer and UL have worked together to pioneer sustainability within the industry. Last year at RazerCon 2021, the digital celebration of all things gaming, Razer announced that it partnered with UL to promote a Type III Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) ecolabel to encourage the sustainable manufacturing of gaming products. This was prompted by the fact that the gaming industry lacks a standardized way to measure sustainable products, and Razer sought to provide one.
Under this partnership, Razer and UL have kickstarted an industry-level effort to identify key indicators of environmental impact that should be measured by all manufacturers of gaming products. With Razer leading the industry in making sustainability endemic to gaming, the outcome will lead to more robust solutions for manufacturers to integrate more sustainable practices into every step of their production process.
Razer is committed to going the extra mile to make greener products while empowering consumers with knowledge to make more informed choices. While the new ECOLOGO Mark will roll out on all Basilisk V3 and the DeathAdder Essential packaging by the end of 2022, all current users can rejoice knowing their mice are sustainably made.