2009 Corporate Responsibility Report - Acer Group

Acer Corporate Responsibility Report 2009
It's Time for Environmental Responsibility
Green Product Management
International environmental regulations can roughly be divided into
three categories: chemicals, energy efficiency, and recycling. Acer
follows this model by evaluating the eco-friendliness of its products
in terms of materials, energy, and recycling. By carefully examining
the whole life cycle of our products we have been able to develop
high-quality items that are energy and resource efficient, easy
to recycle, and low in pollutants and hazardous substances.
By employing green purchasing and communications with our
suppliers we have been able to establish a green supply chain that
is thoroughly in line with international environmental practice.
Energy
Material
Eco-Friendly
Life Cycle
Thinking
Recycling
Green Product Policy
• Based on the life cycle concept, we offer high-quality
products that are energy and resource efficient, low in
pollutants and hazardous substances, and easy to recycle.
• By employing green purchasing and communications
with our suppliers we have been able to establish a green
supply chain that is thoroughly in line with international
environmental practice.
Materials Selection Management
1. Restrictions on the Use of Chemicals
In 2005, the EU announced the Directive on the Restriction of the
Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic
Equipment (RoHS). Acer responded by creating a team charged
with overseeing the environmental safety of our global operations. In
2006, we began the first stage of our Hazardous Substances Free,
HSF, program – based on the precautionary principle and Individual
Producer Responsibility – to remove PVC, BFRs and phthalates
from our products. In conjunction with our suppliers we conducted a
thorough review of our products in the search for substitute materials
and technology. In addition, the promulgation of the EU's Regulations
for the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of
Chemicals, REACH, on June 1, 2007, prodded us to gain a deeper
understanding of the levels of Substances of Very High Concern,
SVHCs, in our products in keeping with the precautionary spirit of
REACH.
We also strictly require that our suppliers continue to restrict or phase
out the use of hazardous substances in our products, as laid out in the
Acer Guidance of Restricted Substances in Products. This works to
effectively reduce environmental pollution and direct impacts on human
health due to inappropriate disposal of waste electric and electronic
products. We originally made it a corporate target to completely phase
out the use of PVC, BFRs, and phthalates in our products by 2009.
We started on the task of integrating internal and external resources in
2005 and were able to market a number of products that had BFR-free
printer circuit boards and casings. Acer anticipates that new legislation
supporting halogen-free products will lead to restrictions on the use
of PVC and BFRs while also effectively reducing environmental
impacts resulting from inappropriate disposal of electronics waste. Acer
supports the move to phase out all brominated and chlorinated organic
compounds in the legislation of RoHS 2.0, so that all manufacturers in
the supply chain can work as one to solve this problem.
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