The Acer Group has embraced innovation to power communications and IT through sustainable means, devoting more of its proprietary technology to coming up and delivering more earth-friendly devices through its new platform “Earthion”.
Acer recently declared a mission to help tackle environmental challenges using “Earthion” platform—a collaboration among employees and stakeholders to address environmental challenges through innovation and introduce realistic solutions.
“In 2020, more than 60 environment and education projects were initiated by our employees in over 40 countries. This year, we aim to achieve more. In education, we want to help bridge the digital divide and cultivate talent around the world. For the environmental, we wish to help create a greener tomorrow through innovative solutions,” said Acer chairman and chief executive Jason Chen in a global virtual launch of the platform.
Acer’s new device—the Aspire Vero notebook—is its first sustainability-focused product under the Earthion platform. In coming up with a sustainability product, Acer announced that it is joining the RE100 initiative with a commitment to achieve 100-percent renewable energy use by the year 2035.
Chen said that Acer has long been committed to enhancing energy efficiency. Since 2008, it adopted the CDP’s global disclosure system to manage the environmental impacts of its supply chain, and even 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 percent worldwide.
Setting a new commitment to source renewable energy for all of its energy use by 2035, Acer has committed to crafting a sustainable business future to RE100.
RE100 is a renowned global corporate renewable energy initiative that brings together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100-percent renewable electricity. Prior to this, green energy was tapped in various Acer operations in as early as 2013 that involved the installation of solar panels to generate power. In 2020, the Acer Group achieved 44-percent renewable energy use.
“I am delighted to welcome Acer to RE100. By committing to 100-percent renewable electricity by 2035, Acer joins over 300 of the world’s leading businesses committed to driving market change. This sends a powerful message that renewable electricity makes good business sense, and we encourage others to follow,” said head of RE100 Sam Kimmins. Othel V. Campos
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.
Formed from the words “Earth + Mission,” Earthion is the name Acer 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 using 100-percent renewable energy, green innovations, using less packaging and more recycled materials, minimizing impact on the environment, reducing carbon footprint and recycling.
Chen said Acer Earthion is the culmination of several years of research and would continue to evolve with the green mindset. 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.
In 2020, all of Acer’s notebooks adopted recycled paper for packaging, and these environment-friendly designs 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. The initiative expanded with the Earthion platform sharing the culture with partners and suppliers, creating a larger circle of impact.
Today, the company has a clear goal of utilizing clean energy and sustainable materials, starting with the Aspire Vero, a sustainability-focused notebook.
The first product within the Earthion platform, Acer’s Aspire Vero makes use of post-consumer recycled plastic for the device’s chassis and keyboard caps. The Aspire Vero ships in a box made from 80 to 85 percent recycled paper pulp, and plastic bagging for adapter protection is reduced by using paper sleeves instead.
The laptop bag and the sheet between the keyboard and screen is made with 100-percent industrial recycled plastic.
The 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, in emphasis of the 3 Re’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Acer’s transparent reporting efforts were recognized by global sustainability indices, and the company has won industry accolades for ESG performance.
In 2020, Acer was listed on three global sustainability indices: the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Emerging Markets Index for the seventh consecutive year, the MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes with an “AA” rating, and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the fifth year.
Acer was also ranked among the 100 most sustainably managed companies in the world by The Wall Street Journal.