What are EACs?
What are Environmental Attribute Certificates — and why do IT assets qualify?
“What are EACs?” is a question we hear consistently from corporate sustainability leaders. The fundamentals are straightforward. And in 2026, understanding them is becoming essential for any organisation with a Scope 3 target to meet.
EAC in practice
RECs
Renewable electricity · Scope 2
SAF certs
Aviation fuel · Scope 3
I-TECs
IT hardware · Scope 3
Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs) are tradeable instruments that represent verified environmental benefits. They separate the environmental attribute from the physical product or activity that created it. That attribute can then be transferred, sold, and used by another company in its climate reporting.
This is the principle behind Renewable Energy Certificates. It is the principle behind Sustainable Aviation Fuel certificates. And it is now extending into materials, capital goods, and IT assets.
EACs are sometimes also referred to as Energy Attribute Certificates, a term that originated in electricity markets where RECs were the dominant instrument. The two names describe the same underlying mechanism: a certificate that separates a verified environmental attribute from the physical commodity that created it.
How EACs work?
An EAC is backed by a real activity.
One megawatt-hour of solar power from a specific facility. One kilogram of recycled aluminium. One hard drive refurbished at an ITAD facility and given a second life.
Each certificate shares the same core features:
Verified proof
That the underlying activity occurred — independently audited and tied to a specific facility or batch.
A measured carbon intensity
The verified emissions intensity of the underlying activity, calculated using a recognised methodology.
Separability
The environmental attribute transfers independently of the physical commodity.
The certificate travels independently of the commodity. Where a company buys the certificate together with the physical product, it evidences the verified carbon intensity of that purchase in its GHG inventory. Where the certificate is bought on its own, it supports a separately reported contribution to decarbonising the wider system the product comes from.
Carbon Intensity (CI) certificates are a fast-growing subset of EACs for Scope 3 applications. A CI certificate conveys the verified emissions intensity of a specific activity, such as a batch of refurbished IT hardware. The product still exists. The supply chain still exists. What is certified, verified and transferred is the carbon profile of that activity. SAF certificates and I-TECs both work this way.
Why EACs exist — the Scope 3 challenge
70–95%
of total emissions for most large companies sit in Scope 3 — largely outside direct operational control, found in purchased goods, logistics, IT hardware, and end-of-life treatment.
Companies cannot instantly switch suppliers, redesign products overnight, or rebuild global procurement in a single budget cycle. But they are expected to reduce emissions intensity, hit interim 2030 targets, and show measurable, auditable progress.
EACs help address that tension. They give companies a credible, verifiable way to act on Scope 3 categories where supply chains cannot change overnight, reported transparently alongside their direct reductions. And they fit how finance teams plan: volumes are set each year in line with actual activity, and markets become more liquid as they deepen.
Where EACs are established — and where they are heading
The EAC model has operated at scale for years.
RECs are the leading CI instrument globally, with the market forecast to reach $45 billion by 2030. They represent the environmental attributes of one megawatt-hour of renewable generation, enabling companies to support renewable generation even where direct renewable procurement is not possible.
SAF certificates apply the same logic to aviation, separating the lower carbon intensity of sustainable fuel from its physical delivery.
In 2026, this architecture is spreading into Scope 3 categories. The EAC types expected to scale fastest include:
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
Low-carbon fuels
Bio-methane
Hydrogen EACs
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Energy efficiency certificates
Recycling and circularity certificates
Regenerative agriculture
IT Asset Reuse Certificates (I-TECs)
Bloom Product
2026 is a turning point. Not because of a new regulation, but because companies are finally moving from announcing Scope 3 ambitions to executing them.
Why IT assets qualify as an EAC category?
IT assets have historically been invisible in corporate carbon accounting. Embodied carbon — the emissions associated with manufacturing new hardware — sits in Scope 3 Category 1 or Category 2, and has typically been measured using spend-based estimates with limited ability to act on the result.
For an asset class to qualify as an EAC category, three conditions must be met:
Definable in a standardised unit
Per device, per batch, per order — traceable to a specific refurbishment activity.
Verifiable against a recognised methodology
ISO 14064-aligned, independently audited, facility-specific emissions data.
Pooled supply routes
Physical segregation not always feasible — same logic that makes RECs valuable for electricity.
This is why EACs are needed
Refurbished IT meets all three. EACs provide the mechanism to account for lower-intensity outcomes in constrained procurement environments.
I-TECs — the world’s first EAC for the IT asset disposition sector
In Q1 2026, Bloom launched the world’s first Environmental Attribute Certificate designed specifically for the ITAD sector. I-TECs are issued per unit of IT asset processed by a registered ITAD partner.
Verified under ISO 14064
Independently audited before issuance — the global benchmark for GHG accounting.
Facility-specific carbon data
Calculated from the verified energy and fuel use of the registered refurbishment facility, not generic averages.
Audited before issuance
Every certificate passes independent third-party verification before entering the registry.
Recorded in the Bloom Registry
Transferred and retired with an auditable chain of custody — preventing double counting across the full supply chain.
How I-TECs are reported under SBTi
Under the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, I-TECs bought together with refurbished hardware are reflected in the company’s Scope 3 inventory. I-TECs bought on their own are reported separately, as a contribution to the IT refurbishment system.
I-TECs are not offsets. The activity they represent sits within the IT hardware system that the companies using them depend on, not in an unrelated project elsewhere. The benefit is real, independently verified, and directly connected to circular IT activity.
A practical approach to 2030
The most effective Scope 3 strategies are converging on a three-part model:
Direct action
Operational decarbonisation
Where feasible — switching suppliers, redesigning procurement, reducing hardware refresh cycles.
Transition
Supplier engagement
Ongoing engagement and long-term transition plans — building toward structural change over time.
Bridge
High-integrity EACs
To bridge timing and capital gaps — credible, auditable, compatible with how finance teams plan.
The organisations that make credible progress toward 2030 will be those that combine direct reductions with transparent, high-integrity instruments. EACs are increasingly part of that toolkit.
Who is this relevant for?
ITADs and electronics refurbishers
If your organisation refurbishes, reuses, or recycles IT assets, I-TECs give you a verified, tradeable certificate for the environmental value your operations already create. You can offer them to clients as part of your service, creating a new revenue line and a meaningful differentiator in competitive bids.
Corporates and procurement teams
If your organisation buys IT equipment or manages Scope 3 emissions reporting, I-TECs give you a registry-backed mechanism to account for lower carbon intensity in your IT procurement. This applies whether or not you are able to switch entirely to refurbished hardware.
Trusted by leading ITADs and corporates worldwide
Ready for a next step?
Explore the full framework behind carbon intensity certificates, or learn how I-TECs apply directly to your IT procurement.
We will ask a few questions about your organisation and what you are trying to achieve. Most intro calls are 20 minutes and result in a clear picture of whether and how I-TECs apply to your situation.