Circular Economy

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Email: ESG@wistron.com

Circular Economy

Circular Economy

Circular Economy

 

Wistron seeks to maximize benefits for customers in the circular economy by not only producing green electronic products, but also recycling discarded electronic products and converting recycled materials into environmentally friendly products. We use resource sustainably to create a green and circular sustainable business model. The service targets of closed-loop gold and closed-loop plastic have expanded from the information and communication industry, medical industry, and aviation industry, to the “safe product destruction and recycling” services requested by OEM clients. The application of recycled plastic products has continued to extend from monitors, desktop computers, and televisions to routers, servers, mice, keyboards, fans, and other fields.



Green resources business achievements
2019 2020 2021 2022
Disposal of electronic waste(tons) 11,363 10,000 7,300 4,660
PCR plastic materials shipping volume(tons) 13,512 16,930 26,288 21,577
Reduction in usage of new plastic materials(tons) 4,730 7,620 11,131 11,047
Revenue (in million RMB) of Wistron Advanced Materials (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. 797 921 1,680 1,380



Raw Materials and Technological Innovations

 

The Wistron green resources team provides recycle processing and recycled plastics services, building on its past 10 years of practical circular economy experience.  At the same time, in 2022, Wistron has cooperated with customers to introduce 50% PCR in laptop products, introduce hydroelectric recycled aluminum in commercial models, and introduce 12% recycled steel in desktop computers. In addition, expanding the application of recycled metals is another innovative focus areas.



Raw materials/technologies Characteristics and environmental benefits
Renewable raw materials Bio-based Plastic Currently, the main source of bio-based plastics is castor oil from renewable plants to reduce the use of petroleum and to reduce carbon emissions. In 2022, 50% of PCRs have introduced into laptops.
Ocean-bound plastic Ocean-bound plastic is applied for product development, and PC/OBP were newly developed. The application has covered display case, key cap, fan, router and other product components. In 2022, a total of 148 tons of marine recycled plastic products have been shipped
Innovative technology Hydroelectric recycled aluminum The energy used to produce recycled aluminum in the form of remelting ingots is lower than that of virgin aluminum ingots. Moreover, the carbon dioxide emitted by one ton of electrolytic aluminum produced by hydropower is much lower than that of thermal power. In 2022, it has been introduced to laptop products.
Recycling and reuse of lithium batteries In cooperation with technical partner in 2022, a lithium battery cathode material recycling refinery has been established in the Green Resources Plant in the State of Texas, with an annual processing capacity of 500 tons. It is scheduled to start production pilot run in 2023 and mass production in 2024.



Green Product Performance

 

The product design and development process complies with the “Guidelines for Green Product Design and Review Procedure” and considers waste reduction, environmental protection, and the use of non-hazardous materials. Besides meeting international regulations and standards, we are also dedicated to minimizing our impact on people and the environment. Wistron’s Green Resources Business subsidiary focuses on the recycling of waste electronics and refining of renewable plastics, promoting post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics for various customer products and expanding the influence of Wistron’s green products.



Products using PCR plastic materials as percentage of hardware revenue (%)
2019 2020 2021 2022
Laptops 52.2% 61.8%

85.6%

90.9%
Desktop computers 65.8% 58.1%

68.4%

81.7%
LCD Display products 97.7% 95.8%

96.5%

94.2%
Servers/ Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) 1.3% 0.5% 0.65% 0.8%
Total 53.5% 58.7%

79.1%

80.3%
  • Note: Hardware products refer to laptops/desktop computers, and all-in-one (AIO) computers/display products /servers/Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)



Key Performance Indicators of Green Products (%)
2019 2020 2021 2022
Percentage of products compliant to WEEE regulations 100% 100% 100% 100%
Percentage of products with environmental labels 87.0% 89.5% 90.7% 85.1%
Percentage of packaging designed with recycled materials 95.0% 98.0% 98.1% 98.6%
Percentage of products that use recycled plastic materials 53.5% 58.7% 79.1% 80.3%
  • Note: Data and examples of packaging designs using recycled materials before 2020 in Wistron Technology



Wistron's product packaging has always been based on the concepts of environmental protection and reduction of resource waste. We choose recyclable and reusable materials for cardboard boxes, cushioning materials, and ink used for printing whenever possible. We also make use of this feature to add recycled and reproduced materials at the source for production. . In 2022, the products that used Wistron's packaging design with recycled materials accounted for 98.7% of overall revenue. Among which, 98.6% of the external boxes were made from recycled pulp; 92.2% of the cushioning materials were made from recycled EPE; and 98.1% of the printed materials were printed with environmentally friendly water-based ink.
 

Recycled materials used in product packaging as percentage of hardware revenue in 2022 (%)
Recycled pulp for cardboard boxes Cushioning materials using recycled EPE Environmentally friendly water-based ink for printed materials
Laptops 99.6% 99.6% 99.6%
Desktop computers and all-in-one (AIO) computers 96.2% 78.2% 96.2%
Monitors 95.1% 67.6% 95.1%
Servers/Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) 99% 92.8% 96.1%
Keyboards 100% 0% 100%
Speakers 100% 0% 88.2%
Handheld mobile devices 100% 100% 100%
Total 98.6% 92.2% 98.1%