Acer Group aims for 100% renewable energy by 2035
The Acer Group has joined the RE100 initiative and pledged to achieve 100% renewable energy use by 2035.
In addition, Acer declared its mission to help tackle environmental challenges with its Earthion platform that unites employees and supply chain partners, and expands its sustainability efforts.
Tiffany Huang, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Acer, said: “We already have the commitment of AUO, Compal, Innolux and Quanta, and look forward to welcoming more partners to join the Acer Earthion mission to speed up the development of green designs and processes, and support our goal of 100% renewable energy for a sustainable planet.”
Long-Term Commitment to Green Energy Use
Since 2008, Acer has adopted the CDP’s global disclosure system to manage the environmental impacts of its supply chain, and expanded the system to two tiers of supplier engagement.
In 2012, Acer began setting carbon reduction targets through energy management and green energy use, taking 2009 as the baseline year. Through constant efforts and drive, the Acer Group, including its global operations and subsidiaries, successfully achieved its 2020 target of reducing its carbon emissions by 60% worldwide.
Setting a new commitment to source renewable energy for all of its energy use by 2035, Acer also announced that it has joined RE100, a global corporate renewable energy initiative that brings together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity.
Green energy has been utilized by various Acer operations since as early as 2013, with some locations even installing solar panels to generate their own solar power. In 2020, the Acer Group achieved 44% renewable energy use. Currently it uses 60% of renewable energy for its information products business operations and generates 3m Kwh solar power annually.
Sam Kimmins, Head of RE100, The Climate Group, said: “This sends a powerful message that renewable electricity makes good business sense, and we encourage others to follow”.
Earthion: Combining Strengths Across the Supply Chain
Acer decided to take its environmental commitments further with Earthion, a platform that combines the strengths of the company, its supply chain partners, consumers (channels), and their employees. “Earthion” is a blend of the words “Earth + Mission,” and is the name Acer has created to represent its mission to help tackle environmental challenges through innovative and integrated solutions. The driving force behind Earthion is each member’s belief that its mutual collaboration can effectively create a positive impact on the environment.
Earthion’s primary topics of focus are:
• Energy – using 100% renewable energy, as a goal
• Product Design – green innovations
• Packaging Design – using less packaging and more recycled materials
• Production – minimizing impact on the environment
• Logistics – leaving a smaller carbon footprint
• Recycling – recycling, reusing, and repurposing resources
Acer Earthion is the culmination of several years of efforts and will continue to evolve. The initial idea was to do more as a responsible company and corporate citizen, and fight against both the increasingly urgent impacts of climate change and the digital divide.
This idea led to the birth of Project Humanity, a company-wide initiative to raise awareness of intensifying global issues and to encourage each Acer employee to contribute toward positive changes.
In 2020, all of Acer’s notebooks have adopted recycled paper for packaging, and these environmentally friendly designs have saved 8,750 kg of paper pulp and cut down on the usage of 20 million plastic bags. From Acer’s internal recycling activities, over 50 metric tons of batteries were recycled and remanufactured into new ones.
Acer Aspire Vero: a Sustainability-focused Notebook
The first product within the Earthion platform, Acer’s Aspire Vero is a step towards reimagining what the computer manufacturing process looks like. Post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic is used throughout the device’s chassis and keyboard caps.
Eco-friendly packaging takes this a step further: the Aspire Vero ships in a box made from 80-85% recycled paper pulp, and plastic bagging for adapter protection is reduced by using paper sleeves instead. Furthermore, the laptop bag and the sheet between the keyboard and screen is made with 100% industrial recycled plastic.
This emphasis on sustainability carries over to the design language, too. All graphics on the shipping box are printed with soy ink, and the notebook itself contains no paint on the chassis, reducing the impact on the environment. It is held together by easily-accessible, standardized screws for a simpler disassembly process. The notebook stands out with unique yellow and volcano grey accents on its bumpers, and the text on the R and E keys have been inverted, calling out the 3 Re’s: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Behind all of this is the latest 11th Gen Intel Core processor with Intel Iris Xe graphics. and up to 1 TB of M.2 SSD storage gives users plenty of space to store music, movies and files. This display features a lifting-hinge design that slightly elevates the notebook when opened, allowing for a more ergonomic typing experience, while AI noise suppression offers clarity during video calls.
