Environmental Initiatives
As a major industry developer and manufacturer of networking equipment, Allied Telesis is committed to providing the world with products designed and built to the highest quality standards, while minimizing the impact to the environment during both product manufacture and operation.
Allied Telesis' top management has established and provided the resources for an Environmental Management System (EMS). We offer products designed to conserve energy; manufactured to save resources. We seek to reduce the risks to human health and the health of the environment from the use of hazardous chemical substances. We strive to reduce our impact on the environment through reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste materials (we practice 3R). We comply with all applicable environmental regulatory requirements, industry-specific self-regulation and stakeholder’s requirements.
Environmental Policy
Philosophy
Allied Telesis recognizes the importance of protecting the global environment and promoting conservation of biodiversity. We creatively utilize technology for sustainable social progress and for protecting the environment. Allied Telesis is committed to passing down a healthy global environment to the next generation.
Policy
Allied Telesis Group takes a proactive approach to continual improvement of the local and global environment, prevention of pollution and environment-focused management to fulfill corporate social responsibilities.
To achieve these objectives, Allied Telesis top management has established and provides the resources for an Environmental Management System (EMS):
- We offer products designed to conserve energy; manufactured to save resources.
- We seek to reduce the risks to human health and the health of the environment from the use of hazardous chemical substances.
- We strive to reduce our impact on the environment through reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste materials (we practice 3R).
- We comply with all applicable environmental regulatory requirements, industry-specific self-regulation and stakeholder’s requirements.
Energy Reduction
Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE)
Ethernet is the technology that drives most networks – from corporate LANs to the backbone of the Internet. It is a technology that is mature, highly reliable, and enormously popular. Therefore, considerable effort is being devoted to the optimization of this technology. When something becomes as prevalent as Ethernet has, the benefits of any incremental improvement are substantial.
Over the preceding decades, the effort that has been put into improving the throughput, flexibility, and cost of Ethernet has transformed the way that businesses use data, and has brought remarkable communication options into the lives of vast numbers of people throughout the world.
More recently, attention has also turned to the impact that Ethernet devices are having on the world’s energy consumption. If ways can be found to reduce the energy consumption of these devices, then we can achieve valuable reductions in the environmental impact, and running costs, of data networks. Reductions in energy consumption by these devices also have add-on effects as less heat is generated, which results in less energy being consumed for environmental conditioning.
When serious attention is devoted to optimizing an aspect of a technology, then usually significant gains are made quite quickly. This has certainly been the case with the energy-use optimzation of Ethernet. The IEEE group working on Ethernet energy efficiency has identified that a sizable amount of power was being used unnecessarily to keep the transmit circuitry of Ethernet interfaces active, even when they had no data to transmit.
The fact is that the majority of Ethernet links, especially at the edge of a network, have utilizations of less than 10%. The network interfaces in PCs, and other connected devices, are not constantly communicating with the network, but spend much of their time quiet. So, their transmit circuitry is idle for around 90% of the time.
The IEEE working group devised a mechanism for saving power by enabling the transmit circuitry to go into low-power mode when idle, and rapidly return to a fully active mode when data needs to be transmitted. This mechanism has been ratified as a standard that is commonly referred to as Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE).
A compelling feature of EEE is its ability to take advantage of even very brief idle periods. An EEE port will move to low-power mode within just a few microseconds of no data. On a 10 Gigabit port, the port can be down to low power in about 3 microseconds after sending a packet. So, power is not saved just in the long idle periods, but in all the thousands of brief idle periods that occur even when a workstation is active.
This propensity for ports to transition to low power at every little opportunity would be bothersome if the power-up time were lengthy, as that would add latency to data communication. However, EEE also has a rapid power-up time. So, EEE takes the opportunity to save power in those brief idle moments, without adding significant delay to data delivery.
Implementing this standard enables networking equipment to achieve real, tangible reductions in power consumption – savings of well over 50% of the energy used by Ethernet ports.
In addition, equipment lifetimes are increased – less power dissipation means slower heat-induced deterioration of components. Allied Telesis has embraced this standard, as due to the benefit it has for the planet and for our customers. Wherever possible, Ethernet interfaces in Allied Telesis equipment are now being developed as EEE-compliant interfaces.
Transitioning to an EEE-compliant network infrastructure does not require a fork-lift equipment upgrade. Allied Telesis EEE-capable Ethernet ports are fully backward compatible with pre-EEE ports. So EEE-capable equipment from Allied Telesis can be progressively introduced into a network without any need to overcome interoperability hurdles.
Reduced Operational Power Consumption
Using the latest technology and a range of power-saving techniques, Allied Telesis has reduced power consumption by up to 50% over a wide range of its network devices. Reducing power consumption has a direct benefit for the environment. Additionally, further energy savings can also be made where products are installed in air conditioned environments such as server rooms. Using less power has the distinct advantage to the user of lowering power utility bills, while also allowing the equipment to run cooler, increasing reliability.
Eco-friendly is the brand name used by Allied Telesis to signify our low power range of networking products. Eco-friendly products will eventually encompass our entire product portfolio, as we continue to introduce new, lower power technology to meet customer demand.
Reducing Power on Network Ports
The latest switching silicon can detect the length of cables connected to a port. Using “measure and minimize” technology, Allied Telesis can ensure that maximum power is only injected into cables with the longest lengths, while reducing the power injected into short cable lengths. Advanced products can ensure that selected ports are disabled overnight or at weekends, further reducing power consumption.
Reducing Power on Network Ports
The latest switching silicon can detect the length of cables connected to a port. Using “measure and minimize” technology, Allied Telesis can ensure that maximum power is only injected into cables with the longest lengths, while reducing the power injected into short cable lengths. Advanced products can ensure that selected ports are disabled overnight or at weekends, further reducing power consumption.
Reducing Indicator Activity
All networking devices feature a varying array of power-consuming indicator devices (typically LEDs) to aid in installation and diagnostics. On the latest Allied Telesis products, these LEDs can be disabled when not required, saving up to a further 2% of operating power.
Power Supply Efficiency
The overall power consumption of a network device is ultimately dictated by the efficiency of the power supply. A power supply delivering only 50% efficiency draws twice the actual required power, with half the power wasted in the form of heat. Allied Telesis is now using ultra-efficient power supplies, delivering conversion efficiencies of more than 80%, which produce less heat and reduce power consumption by up to 30%. Allied Telesis is now rating power supplies, informing the user of their efficiency.
Power Supply Efficiency
The overall power consumption of a network device is ultimately dictated by the efficiency of the power supply. A power supply delivering only 50% efficiency draws twice the actual required power, with half the power wasted in the form of heat. Allied Telesis is now using ultra-efficient power supplies, delivering conversion efficiencies of more than 80%, which produce less heat and reduce power consumption by up to 30%. Allied Telesis is now rating power supplies, informing the user of their efficiency.
Manufacturing & Distribution
Manufacturing
Allied Telesis prides itself on using state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment. While quality and efficiency are key parameters, Allied Telesis is also focused on reducing the potential damage to the environment caused during the manufacturing process.
ISO 9001 Standard
All Allied Telesis manufacturing facilities conform to ISO 9001 standards, allowing production volumes to scale easily without sacrificing product quality. Efficient production techniques, coupled with stringent design parameters, ensure that Allied Telesis maintains its position as one of the highest quality networking producers in the industry.
ISO 14001 Standard
Allied Telesis has long been a responsible manufacturer, ensuring the minimum damage to the world’s environment. All Allied Telesis facilities adhere to the strict ISO 14001 standard for environment management of its production processes.
Allied Telesis manufacturing facilities also ensure minimal impact on the environment by using the latest technology and processes. The use of lead-free solder significantly reduces the amount of toxic chemicals, while the use of the ‘no-clean’ production process has reduced the amount of solvent cleaner used by more than 10,000 gallons per year. All water used in Allied Telesis manufacturing processes is also recycled.
Logistics
The majority of Allied Telesis network products are manufactured in Asia. Transporting these products across the world to the consumer markets could therefore have significant impact on the environment. Wherever possible, Allied Telesis attempts to use bulk sea transportation, as this has significantly less environmental impact when compared to air freight.
Environmental Policy Compliance
Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (ROHS) Compliance
Allied Telesis, Inc. declares that the homogeneous content of the materials and components used in products bearing the CE Mark conforms to the requirements established by the European Union RoHS (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment) Directive, 2011/65/EU. Maximum Concentration Values of lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), hexavalent chromium (Cr+6), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) shall be 1000 ppm and cadmium (Cd) shall be 100 ppm. Allied Telesis ensures RoHS conformance by requiring Declarations of Conformity and Full Materials Declarations from all suppliers; by monitoring incoming materials and by maintaining strict manufacturing process controls.
Reach Policy
As a manufacturer of Articles that do not release chemical substances into the environment, Allied Telesis is committed to ensuring that there are no SVHCs (Substances of Very High Concern) above allowable threshold (1000 ppm) used in our products. We have procedures and processes in place to ensure continued conformity with REACH regulations.
WEEE Policy
Allied Telesis distributors and channel partners share a common commitment to recycle waste electronic equipment and safely dispose of what cannot be recycled, in accordance with the WEEE directive.
Conflict Minerals Policy
Allied Telesis is committed to social and environmental responsibility and expects the same commitment from its supply chain. This includes compliance with Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires U.S. publicly-traded companies to trace the origins of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) used in their products. The intended purpose of which is to prevent the use of (3TG) mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and adjoining countries in order to eliminate these “conflict minerals” as a source of funding for the ongoing conflict. Allied Telesis has a dedicated team, working with its suppliers to reasonably assure that the 3TG in Allied Telesis products are “conflict free.”