In his opening talk at the Acer online global press conference ahead of CES 2023, Jason Chen, CEO of Acer, announced that the company has sold 500,000 of its eco-conscious Vero line worldwide.
Acer launched the Earthion program in 2021 and began working closely with suppliers and partners to bring eco-friendly initiatives into its supply chain ecosystem, focusing primarily on energy, product design, packaging design, production, logistics, and recycling.
As an advocate for circular economies, Acer has launched the Vero line of green laptops, desktops, displays and accessories, which utilize recycled plastic, recyclable packaging, and ocean-bound plastic waste.
Acer’s environmental commitment has extended to recycled paper for packaging, saving 8,750 kg of paper pulp and 20 million plastic bags. What’s more, Acer has recycled and remanufactured over 50 metric tonnes of batteries.
Acer has also expanded the use of recycled materials beyond the Vero line, which has 20-30% of recycled materials per unit. This variable, according to Tiffany Huang, Co-Chief Operating Officer at Acer, is also being used for other product lines, such as the All-In-One computers, select monitors, projectors, and peripherals.
“We believe that in the end, we won’t create different segments that use recycled materials but integrate this into different products so it’s easier for us to reach our commitment and then also make a broader impact,” said Huang.
As they expand, Acer did not only apply the use of recycled materials in the making of their laptops but also in their newly introduced eKinekt BD 3’s desk top as the parts of the device are made from post consumer recylced platics (PCR). Further, the primary objective of the desk bike is to maintain the balance between health and work. As the users pedal, the laptop charges.
Acer has a recyclable packaging ratio today for all its notebooks and the company expanding this to other categories.
“This is more expensive but we are trying not only for the products, but the packaging. This time, in order to make our products durable with the same lifecycle versus non-sustainable PCs, we need to put more effort into making sure that the the lifecycle is not shorter. When people buy, they may think the lifecycle is shorter because we used recyclable materials but we can can commit that they have the same, or even longer lifecycle, because you can upgrade your memory,” said Huang.
Acer also continues to urge more partners and suppliers to join forces in helping reduce harmful impacts to the environment and save valuable resources by transitioning toward a circular economy, one that reuses and regenerates materials or products as a means of continuing production in a sustainable way.
Acer has cut 160 tons of CO2 emissions with its suppliers, with a goal of 20 percent to 20 percent PCR on PCs and displays by 2025.
“What Acer tried to do is not to greenwash but be sustainable from the inside out, from the corporate index to the product, to the people, to the process. And I believe we are really really committed to what we try to do,” said Huang.
