Product Environmental Management

Hazardous Substance Free (HSF) Planning

In 2005, Acer pledged to prohibit the use of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), BFRs (brominated flame retardants) and phthalates in all products by 2009. We are striving to reach this target by working with partners and suppliers and through the integration of internal and external resources. Since its inception, the HSF Plan has completed a number of missions that include:

  • Keeping a detailed inventory of PVC, BFRs and phthalates used by system suppliers and key component suppliers, and evaluating alternative materials and technologies
  • Establishing an HSF database
  • Regular disclosures for HSF Plan progress
  • Conducting pilot projects for HSF products

Today we have fulfilled our pledge to eliminate PVC, BFRs and phthalates from most of the plastic housing and mechanical parts in our products. Even though technologies for BFR-free PWB are becoming more popular and mature, the majority of substitute materials for BFRs are still phosphates, which create major drawbacks such as moisture, hardening and fragility. We run stringent safety and reliability tests to prevent possible compromises in product safety and reliability. Mass production may still be limited by the supply of bromine-free resin for PWB.
The use of non-PVC cables and wires for direct current applications is becoming common. Some alternating current applications of non-PVC cables have been developed and certifications for safety requirement in several countries have been approved.

Strict product reliability and safety tests are crucial in improving the yield rate of our products while reducing e-waste generated during the manufacturing phase.

HSF Products

Since October 2008, Acer has been shipping a number of LCD monitors with better environmental performance -- G24, V174, B174, V194HQ, V194, B193, V194W, B194W, V204H, V224HQ, V224W, B224W, V234H, B234HU, B244W, and V244W. The BFRs-/PVC-free parts used include product casing, printed circuit board laminates, connectors and internal cables.

Continuous Pilot Runs

To assure the fulfillment of quality and environmental requirements, pilot runs of LCD monitors, notebooks, desktops and projectors are launched to evaluate the maturity of production technology and mass production schedules to launch HSF models.

HSF pilot runs are conducted step-by-step with a prudent approach to ensure phase-out of BFRs and PVC components from the products safely. Both normal and HSF components are used in parallel pilot runs separately to reduce the risk of HSF phase-in of the products and to control the technical problems of HSF tests. When suppliers claim that the results of the HSF inventory satisfied the technical criteria, pilot runs will be conducted in new models. After confirmation of the HSF parts in the pilot runs, the first stage ‘PCB pilot run’ will be then conducted. If problems occur during the pilot run, the supplier will be requested to provide the improvement proposals to fix those problems. After the PCB test is passed, the second stage ‘system pilot run’ will subsequently follow. The sequence is to guarantee the maturity of production technology. HSF products will be phased-in after they pass the quality, safety and reliability tests. Mass production will be carried out only when the above criteria are met. This is to prevent huge amount of e-waste during mass production with the poor yields.

When we carried out the first stage ‘PCB pilot runs,’ some manufacturing defects and reliability issues were found. Suppliers were requested to provide improvement proposals and to conduct the follow-up improvement pilot runs. However, when Acer entered the second stage ‘system pilot runs,’ the components of phasing-in HSF differed greatly from the previously inventoried results. Suppliers of some key components, such as HDD and adapter, had delayed their HSF plans as the schedule of other major PC brands had been postponed. Therefore, Acer was unable to phase-in HSF product comprehensively.

It is necessary to invest resources for investigation and testing before a HSF product is phased in. Coordination in the whole supply chains is also crucial. It is difficult to reach an economical scale of mass production by few brand companies while the majority of the other brands straddle. After years of ongoing HSF plan and inventory, we realized that HSF production needs to change the materials and operation conditions which may create a lot of e-waste owing to low yield, and may increase difficulties in business operations. As for non-PVC's AC power cord, there are still some regulatory requests and safety issues to solve. In addition to obstacles for the technical aspects for production, there are also issues with economic scale because of backtracking of some key components. Therefore, some HSF key components can now only be available by special orders. If the HSF requirements can be part of the RoHS 2.0 legislations, HSF products can be phased-in much more smoothly. After a thorough consideration, Acer decided to support the version of halo-free RoHS 2.0 with a ban on the organic chlorine and organic bromine.

At the moment, we are requesting suppliers to re-inventory all HSF components of products which can be readily phased in and to arrange the second stage of the system pilot runs. For HSF pilot runs status, we will update the performance quarterly on the website. If there is major technical breakthrough, it will be also noted on the website in due course. To positively face the difficulties of production technique and the marketing problems, we will arrange a Supplier Conference on August 27, 2009, to discuss how to phase in HSF products smoothly. At the meeting we will reiterate the determination of phasing-in HSF products, and request all suppliers to carry on the HSF system pilot run and to provide the maximal proportion of phase-in HSF components. The conclusion of the Supplier Conference will be shown in the next season on the website. The HSF status of each production line is described as follows:

For HSF LCD monitors, first-wave pilot runs for G24 and V194HQ produced a positive outcome in Q4 2008. This encouraged the launch of 14 HSF models during the second-wave pilot runs. Mass production projects are ongoing for two HSF models. Simultaneously, we requested suppliers to inventory all components of products which can be phased in HSF. The preliminary outcome shows that the majority of the technical problems have been solved except the power cord for safety reason. All products are expected to be phased in gradually.

For notebooks, the first-phase PCB pilot runs of 4 models ended in April 2009. Results show that production defects and reliability issues are the major problems that lead to a low yield rate, which is unproductive and creates more e-waste. With these problems in mind, a request to suppliers for improvement proposals has been issued to conduct second-phase system pilot runs with a yield rate in the acceptable range. We are now carrying on further inventory of all HSF components in products which can be phased in and they will be tested in the second-stage system pilot runs in mid-August.

For desktops, first-stage PCB pilot runs of 3 models ended in May. Two models have passed the test with a yield rate in the acceptable range, and the improvement test of the third model will be completed at the end of September. Also, we continue to further inventory all HSF components in products which can be phased in and will be tested in the second-stage system pilot runs.

For projectors, first-stage PCB pilot runs are ongoing for four HSF models for the preparation of mass production.
In order to produce environment-friendly products, Acer consistently requests suppliers to produce HSF products with precautionary principles. At present, the target of HSF products is to focus on phasing-out BFRs and PVC. In the future, suppliers will be required to ban the usage of beryllium, antimony and all phthalates. To implement sound management of the products, the strategy of chemicals management will be changed from a one-way to two-way communication. That is, suppliers will be asked to report, on a regular basis, the chemical substance management and the substitution situation in the future.

The brominated and chlorinated organic substances, required to be banned by the NGO, are known to have undesirable properties such as PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic) or CMR (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic or toxic to Reproduction). When the product containing halogenated substances are incinerated at the end of life, it may generate dioxins or furans. Some leading companies have voluntarily taken the process one step ahead to phase-out brominated and chlorinated organic substances, but that is not enough for solving the problems in the supply chain. We believe that only legislation can drive the whole supply chain to phase out hazardous substances and to produce HSF products. To abide by the precautionary principle and to fulfill our corporate responsibility, Acer will proactively support RoHS 2.0 for the ban of all organo- Cl/Br Chemicals.