An important aspect of IBM's long-standing commitment to environmental leadership is its collaboration and participation with governments, nongovernmental organizations and industry. Examples of IBM's membership or involvement in voluntary partnerships and initiatives include:
Government partnerships & programs
- California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) Green Ribbon Science Panel
- Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT)
- Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Committee on Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry
- U.S. Department of Energy's Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emissions (1605b) Reporting (since its inception)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Leaders program (charter member)
- U.S. EPA Design for Environment project on flame retardants in printed circuit boards
- U.S. EPA Design for Environment study of lead free solders
- U.S. EPA Design for Environment study on life cycle environmental impacts of computer displays
- U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR® (charter member)
- U.S. EPA Environmentally Sound Management Standards for Electronic Products
- U.S. EPA's Green Power Partnership - Site level (Austin, TX, Costa Mesa, CA, and Foster City, CA)
- U.S. EPA SmartWaySM Transport Partnership
Public & private voluntary disclosure initiatives
- First semiconductor manufacturer to publicly announce and report against a numeric perfluorocompound (PFC) emissions reduction goal
- Reporting on IBM's corporate environmental programs and performance annually since 1990
- Voluntary reporting under the Carbon Disclosure Project (since its inception)
Nongovernmental partnerships & initiatives
- Best Workplaces for Commuters
- Chicago Climate Exchange® (charter member)
- Pew Center on Global Climate Change - Business Environmental Leadership Council (first IT company invited to join)
- Wildlife Habitat Council - Seven IBM sites have had their land management and wildlife habitat programs certified
- World Environment Center's International Environment Forum
- World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers Program (charter member)
- The Nature Conservancy/Rivers for Tomorrow
Business and industry partnerships & initiatives
- Business Roundtable Climate Resolve
- Charter member of Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC)
- Charter member of Product Stewardship -- Canada (which helped established Alberta Electronic Recycling system)
- Charter participant in industry alliance's development of the regulatory tracking service, EIA TRACK, for electronic industry
- Founding member of the Eco-Patent Commons (link resides outside of ibm.com)
- Information Technology Industry Council's Environmental Leadership Council
- Led coalition of manufacturers in support of California's successful product recycling legislation for video display products
- Led establishment of SWICO Electronic Recycling System in Switzerland in 1994 - First comprehensive national recycling system for electronic products in the world
- Led formation of industry electronics recycling systems in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland before the EU's WEEE legislation
- Participate in the High Density Packaging User Group evaluation of hazardous materials used in electronic products
- Participate in the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) Lead-Free Technology Working Groups
- The Green GridSM (founding member)
- World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Environmental standards initiatives
- China RoHS Standards Working Group
- ECMA 328 Standard, "Determination of Chemical Emission Rates from Electronic Equipment"
- ECMA 341 Standard, "Environmental design considerations for electronic products"
- ECMA 370 Standard, "The Eco Declaration"
- International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC 62321) RoHS Test Standards
- IPC 1751 Standard, "Generic Requirements for Declaration Process Management"
- IPC-1752-3 Standard, "Users Guide for Materials Declaration Forms"
- ISO 14000 Technical Committees for Environmental Management System Standards
- ISO 14025:2006, "Environmental labels and declarations - Type III environmental declarations - Principles and procedures"
- Joint Industry Guide for Material Composition Declaration for Electronic Products