Acer to Use 20-30% PCR Plastics in All its Computers and Displays in 2025
Joumana Karam, the Head of Marketing for MEA at Acer says government initiatives play a huge role in addressing the sustainability matter
What are the most pressing environmental challenges facing the MEA region in the context of technology and digitalization?
Middle East region faces many environmental challenges in the context of technology and digitalization. These vary from country to country as our region clubs mature countries like UAE and KSA alongside countries that are still devasted by war and severe economic issues. However, all these countries have a huge population living in cities that consume a lot of energy and a large portion of the land is poor in greenery, water supply and smart infrastructure.
What role do you see government initiatives playing in driving the adoption of green tech solutions in the MEA region? Can you provide specific examples of successful policies or programs?
Government initiatives play a huge role in addressing the sustainability matter. I take the UAE as the best example: Almost all government services are digital. This will reduce paper waste, reduce traffic on the roads, reduce energy use in the offices, and so on. Another example using the technological solutions in DEWA like smart grids, and smart sensors to monitor the water/electricity usage in buildings or remote areas for better energy control and energy efficiency.
What are your company’s sustainability goals for the MEA region, and how are you working towards achieving them?
At Acer, we understand that we play a vital role in the sustainability journey. Acer Group has pledged to achieve net zero by 2025, joined the RE100 initiative and committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2035, while 76% of its critical suppliers committed to RE100 or set science-based carbon reduction targets. We are proud to announce that in 2023, Acer group reached 48% of renewable electricity usage. Another important side to our sustainability efforts is the logistics, as Acer has been cooperating with logistics providers in support of biofuel including marine and aviation fuels to reduce carbon emissions (including all the transport to Middle East partners). That’s why we launched Earthion which is a platform that brings together the strengths of our partners to increase the impact of our sustainability efforts.
How are technology providers like you contributing to the development and adoption of green tech solutions in the MEA region?
On the product side, we were one of the first companies to launch a range of eco-conscious devices with the Vero lineup, made with recycled plastic and recyclable packaging. We are proud to announce that our latest Aspire Vero 16 laptop ( announced at CES 2025 ) remains committed to carbon neutrality throughout its lifecycle. We increased the usage of PCR and bio-based materials by more than 70% on the chassis compared to its previous model. Ocean-bound plastic & oyster shells are used as well.
On the other hand, aside from the Vero series we are proud to confirm that over 40 million Acer devices worldwide including the Middle East, used post-consumer-recycled plastics worldwide including the Middle East throughout 2020 ~ 2022. We aim to use 20-30% PCR plastics in all our computers and displays by 2025 and reduce the energy consumption of our laptops and desktops by an average of 45% by 2025 compared to 2016 devices. Currently over 89% of our notebook computers come with 100% green packaging.
As such, in our journey toward a greener future, our strategy covers our operations, our products, our services and our value chain. As we think about everyone, I would like to highlight our “Earth Mission” application that caters not only to the technology steps of each end-user but covers as well small steps to a greener life such as usage of plastic bags/cutlery, water consumption reduction by reducing shower time, electricity consumption by shutting the lights earlier, and so on. Every small step counts. We have only one planet!
