For Next Generation with Taiwan Climate Partnership

A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that recent climate phenomena are “unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years”. The report also reaffirmed what many people in all circles have known for years: that CO2 is the main driver of climate change. To mitigate the situation; “strong, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and reaching net zero CO2 emissions” must be done before the 1.5C threshold is passed.

Previous approaches put a heavier emphasis on governmental policies and individual efforts, but recently many companies seem to be open to the idea of broadening their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to account for climate change. Most common goals include net-zero or carbon neutrality, renewable energy, improved SCM, and more. Under the pandemic, the global society has rapidly become digitized. Tech companies today continue to grow in influence, size, scope, and output. As such, their active contribution to climate change mitigation efforts are more important than ever.

In this edition of the COMPUTEX Special Report, exhibitors from the Taiwan Climate Partnership Pavilion and their projects are featured to bring attention to their sustainability projects, missions, and initiatives. The Taiwan Climate Partnership organized the Taiwan Climate Partnership Pavilion in the COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD to promote the goal of “Achieving RE100 or EV100” with TCP. The projects mentioned in this edition are not the only efforts undertaken by the members and interested readers are invited to learn more about every exhibitors’ efforts and projects from the COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD website or the related exhibitors’ websites.

Reuse & Recycle Waste to Reduce Waste

Garbage and e-waste recycling rate seem to be about stable despite the higher need for it; whether due to disinterest, economic/ ecological concerns, or any number of other factors. LITEON Technology Corporation hopes to tackle this issue and their umbrella CSR project Sea Hope. The project includes mobile waste size reduction facilities and material extraction from garbage that will then be reintroduced to the supply chain as raw material. LITEON has also succeeded in recycling styrofoam from marine waste into polystyrene (r-PS) and then modified into high-impact polystyrene (Recycled High-Impact PS, r-HIPS). The materials are then used as materials to create products such as computer keyboards and mice.

Other companies also made efforts in reducing the waste they generated through circular economy measures such as material recovery & extraction from wastes by Acer Incorporated's Earthion Project. The targeted materials will include plastics, metals, and battery components; as well as promoting electronics and battery recycling. The approaches of the mission include designing products with recyclability, durability, upgradability, and reparability in mind while using sustainable materials and reducing or even eliminating the use of hazardous substances.

ASUSTeK Computer also defined their 2025 Sustainability Goals which included using more environmentally friendly materials for their products and packaging. The sustainability goals also include promoting a circular economy and achieving a 20% global recycling rate for ASUS products by 2025. ASUS aims to reduce the use of chlorine and bromine flame retardants. ASUS is also committed to increase the ratio of halogen-free components and products with alternative technology without compromising product performance.

Carbon Management Resources to Achieve Climate Goals

While companies might be able to set a clear climate or sustainability goal, it might be difficult to measure the achievement progress or if they are actually doing the right processes to achieve them. One of Microsoft's sustainability goals is integrated into their product offering with the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability that is designed to help companies measure, understand, and take charge of their carbon emissions, set sustainability goals, and take measurable actions from them.

In addition, Microsoft also offers various tools and resources to help companies achieve their CSR, sustainability, or climate goals. The offerings range from emissions visualization dashboard, sustainability decision making support tools, greenhouse gasses (GHG) measurement & reporting training modules, and more.

Manufacturing without Polluting

Green manufacturing processes span across multiple technologies and practices: renewable energy, energy efficiency, pollution reduction & recycling, and natural resource conservation. AU Optronics has promoted low carbon production, aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 6.5 million tons from 2018 to 2025. AUO has achieved Carbon 2020's objective of reducing 1 million tonnes of carbon in 5 years and is actively taking steps to reduce their carbon emission through green transport & logistics, green manufacturing, and product innovation. AUO also actively decreased their waste generation, reaching 36.4% reduction in 2019 compared to their 2014 figures.

PEGATRON Corporation has established a GHG inventory project and carbon reduction goals. To achieve them, PEGATRON has committed to the implementation of energy-saving projects for management and technical levels, in order to reduce consumption of energy and resources and achieve the mission of environmental protection. These projects include greenhouse gases (GHG) inventory and verification, reduction target and the implementation of several energy saving programs. Part of their mission includes using recyclable materials according to international environmental protection regulations and customer requirements.

About Taiwan Climate Partnership

The Taiwan Climate Partnership (TCP) was founded by 8 leading tech companies in Taiwan: Delta Electronics, TSMC, AUO, Microsoft Taiwan, LITEON, Acer, ASUS and PEGATRON. TCP aims to advocate reduce carbon emissions to the supply chain in actual practice, while raising awareness for the issue through close cooperation with international counterparts.

TCP is organizing the Taiwan Climate Partnership Pavilion in COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD featuring the 8 founding members and their projects. TCP will also hold an online summit organized by Business Weekly on carbon reduction on November 18. The summit will feature speakers from Delta Electronics, RE100, Acer, and more. Interested parties may register here. (event will be held in Chinese)

To know more about the work of TCP, watch their webinar on how the global green trend affects Taiwan here. (video is in Chinese)

About COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD

COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD is the online platform of COMPUTEX to provide international buyers with the most complete information and communication products as well as digital transformation solutions through the internet 24/7. The COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD platform also provides matchmaking opportunities with monthly events where buyers can find industry-specific exhibitors. Alternatively, interested buyers can contact the exhibitors directly from their Company Page and use the built in Business Card or Instant Message function in the COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD platform.

In addition, COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD 2021 will include a weekly newsletter titled COMPUTEX Product Sourcing Guide where highlighted pavilions, exhibitors, and their products are introduced to the readers. To never miss an update from COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD, subscribe to the COMPUTEX Product Sourcing Guide here.

COMPUTEX 2022 Registration Starts Soon

COMPUTEX TAIPEI will return in 2022 from May 24 to 27. The exhibition will take a hybrid physical & digital format to make sure exhibitors can have a broader reach both in Taiwan and globally. Follow us on our social media channels to get the latest news from COMPUTEX or subscribe to our newsletter for more information.