Product Recycling | ACER ESG

Product Recycling

Product Recycling

In 2022, Acer has recycled a total of 14,012 tonnes of electronic products, with the recycling rate of 14.9% in Asia, Americas and Europe regions.

The Acer Group continues to be committed to working for sustainable lifestyles and a sustainable environment. To this end, we pursue the recycling of limited resources and good mechanisms for recycling waste in hopes of creating new value for our products. We actively support a variety of measures promoting recycling around the world, along with Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR), and are committed to working with stakeholders including governments, consumers, and channels/retailers to shoulder the responsibility for recycling and managing electronic waste. Around the world, Acer follows local government standards for various electronic product recycling programs and provides convenient recycling methods for consumers to improve the efficiency of waste recycling in the hope of contributing to resource sustainability.

 

Taiwan

 

Recycling of waste IT products in Taiwan is handled through a publicly managed and operated system. Operators receive fees from the Resource Recycling Management Fund based on annual operation volumes and recycling clearance and disposal rates. The Recycling Fund Management Board under the Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, is in charge of determining recyclables, issuing treatment subsidies, auditing and verifying treatment volumes, and managing recyclers’ treatment and administrative operations. Taiwan offers a wide spectrum of waste IT product recycling channels, able to utilize clean-up teams, second-hand goods operators, resource recycling organizations, and recycling locations established at IT product retail sales sites. Acer coordinates efforts with Taiwan' recycling system by not only making annual payments to the Resource Recycling Management Fund, but also participating in public hearings on recycling, clearance and treatment fee rates to better understand Resource Recycling Management Fund operations and provide suggestions on recycling, clearance and treatment fee rate adjustments. For information about resource recycling in Taiwan, please refer to the EPA' Recycling Fund Management Board website.          
 

 

We follow the Environmental Protection Administration’s announcement on the items that should be recycled and take responsibility for recycling product, including computers and monitors. We also offer 3C recycling services through our service centers located throughout Taiwan, regardless of the brand.

Japan

 

Acer continues to work with Japan’s PC3R promotion Association computer recycling organization, enabling consumers to register items for recycling online or by email and then send them in by mail. The Association also organizes for the reuse of any products collected that can still produce cyclical value. In Japan, Acer has set up PC Recycling Centers in hopes of encouraging customers to recycle long-used products and upgrade to newer products still in their usable lives. At the same time, this project also ensures that customers’ information security is protected.    

 

Australia

 

Electronic waste is managed by the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS) under the Australian federal government, which manages the recycling of televisions, computers, printers, computer parts and peripheral products. The objectives of NTCRS are to reduce waste that ends up in landfill, increase recycling rates and provide convenient access to recycling services for households and small businesses throughout Australia. Acer collaborates with NTCRS-approved Ecycle Solutions recyclers to recycle e-waste.      
 

 

Europe

Acer adheres to the European Union Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive with regard to products, also the requirement for batteries, and packaging, aiming to pursue recycling and reduction and providing consumers with information on local recycling channels through their respective national Acer websites.

Pan-America

Acer continued to operate its regulatory and voluntary end-of-life electronics recycling channels in Pan-America to ensure consumers have convenient and environmentally responsible options for recycling their end-of-life products. At the same time, Acer’s Tech Trade-up program continued to operate in 2022. The program incentivizes Acer’s customers for returning aging devices during IT refresh cycles, to protect the data integrity. Acer also provides value back to its customers or transfers that value into savings for new products. In turn, Acer reuses or properly recycles the old products to extend their life and prevent their valuable resources from entering the waste stream. In 2022, the estimated products and materials that were recycled by USA is 21.2%. From 2019 to 2021, the percentages were 20.4%, 15.4%, and 17.7% respectively.

 

Due to the demand for cobalt in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries and also the child labor associated with the mining of raw cobalt, in 2022, Acer continued to support the recycling of the lithium-ion batteries contained in mobile electronic products via its Call2Recycle license and its own internal process. In addition to the Call2Recycle program support, Acer collected approximately 850 kilograms of spent batteries through its customer service program in 2022 to be recycled through these processes. In 2022, Acer continued its participation in the rule development process for the new producer responsibility recycling program for packaging in Ontario, Canada. Activities in 2022 included setting the fee models in preparation for program launch in 2023. Acer also began preparing for a similar program in New Brunswick which will begin implementation later in 2023.            

Acer continued its seat on the Board of Directors for the Washington Materials Management and Financing Authority (WMMFA). The mission of the WMMFA is to provide responsible end of life recycling for the citizens of Washington State in compliance with state law and Department of Ecology direction, and in the most cost-effective manner for our members. The board of directors is comprised of 11 seats and is responsible for managing the business and affairs of the WMMFA as it executes the state recycling plans for its 250+ registered manufacturer members.           

Worldwide, Acer Group is working to strengthen the environmental sustainability aspect of social responsibility through responsible recycling models. Acer America continues to require that all recycling schemes ensure appropriate disposal and management of end-of-life electronics devices, components and materials, as well as safeguarding customer data through the implementation of data destruction procedures. Acer America requires that all suppliers and second tier suppliers comply with Acer waste disposal standards for the management of end-of-life products and still has a strict requirement for its recycling vendors to maintain either the Responsible Recycling (R2) or eStewards standards certifications. Acer also continued its recycling vendor auditing program to verify vendor practices and to ensure downstream processors are held accountable as well. For more information on Acer America's recycling program , please visit Acer America’s recycling website

 

 

Our products mainly consist of materials and components which could be reused or recycled during the end of life stage. Based on our calculation, the notebook product has estimated 95% of reuse and recyclable rate.