Green Product

The development of products aligned with world trends, understanding customers' needs, and securing their trust form a key pillar of sustainable development in business. Product design at Compal is based on the concept of “Product Life Cycle.” Environmental impact at every stage of the life cycle from procurement of raw materials, production and manufacturing, transportation and distribution, consumer use through to disposal and recycling are all taken into account. In addition to considering user requirements, functionality, and added value at the start of product design, the R&D team pays particular attention to the “minimization of environmental impact” at every stage during product development and design. Customers also receive assistance on obtaining eco-labels that incorporate life cycle assessment in their respective region. In 2022, a total of 84 mass produced notebook models obtained a variety of environmental marks. 81 products achieved EPEAT 2018 compliance including 44 receiving the gold award, and 26 products passing the Taiwan Green Mark.

Green Design 

Inspired by decades of practical experience, Compal believes that green products must possess three design features: “green materials,”“energy efficiency” and “ease of dis-assembly/re-cycling,” Compal's environment friendly designs have also been aligned with international trends and the needs of its stakeholders and customers to achieve the best eco-effectiveness. Not only that, we have held innovative competitions within the organization to inspire more possibilities through the incentives of cash prizes and honor.

Raw Material Management

There were three projects in the first lot to implement to FMD after the system went live. At the time, disclosure rate was 25% of the product weight. Continued communication with suppliers, internal education & training, and system improvements saw 75 projects achieve 90% disclosure by product weight in 2022. Significant growth was therefore achieved in both number of projects and disclosure rate.
Hazardous Substance Management 
Controls were implemented by Compal from material selection onwards to reduce product impact on customer health and the environment. Applicable chemical regulations include but are not limited to the EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) directive, and the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) directive. Material declarations are also periodically updated in accordance with the IEC 624742 international materials declaration standard. Seminars were held at plants in Taiwan and China to keep suppliers and front-line R&D employees up to date on regulations. Information e-mails and online courses were adopted due to COVID-19 to meet epidemic prevention requirements while ensuring that all subsequent design and parts will conform to the applicable management regulations.
EU REACH 
REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals) is a set of regulations imposed by the European Union to control imported chemical substances. REACH controls use and importation of chemical substances by implementing a series of measures including registration evaluation, authorization, and mandatory disclosure. Compal requires suppliers to make full disclosure of SVHC contents in all supplied parts, and encourages them to take step towards reducing and eliminating uses of such substances as early as possible. The hazardous chemical substances included in the authorized list in Appendix XIV of the EU Chemical Policy are also included in Compal's environmental hazardous chemical substance management-related regulations to restrict their use. According to the update of international hazardous substance-related requirements, Compal will also update the environmental-related controlled substance management regulations with the requirements.
EU REACH EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in Waste Electronic and Electrical equipment
In light of increasing harm to the environment caused by waste electronics and appliances, the European Union implemented RoHS (Restriction of the use of Certain Hazardous Substances Directive) in 2002 that imposed controls over the concentration of 6 hazardous substances: lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). Compal products are 100% complaint with all limits set by the RoHS directive. There were no returns due to RoHS violations.
Halogen-Free

As halogen compounds release substances toxic to the environment and organisms after incomplete combustion, EU has included chlorinated and brominated flame retardant as a controlled substance in the RoHS directive. In light of the voluntary standards - “halogen-free parts and processes” introduced by international organizations and customers’ increasingly stringent demands on environmental protection, Compal has amended the management standards for environmental-related substances controlled in parts and materials to regulate halogen (chlorine/bromine) content, and is constantly improving its production systems to eliminate halogen altogether for the benefit of the environment and human health. With Compal adopted halogen-free products and processes back in 2007, the world's big brands have all leaned towards halogen-free production as of today as alternative materials have been developed to ensure no compromises in product functionality, thanks to the advancement in relevant technologies. Compal will continue making design improvements and aim to eliminate halogen parts at a faster rate

The development and mass production of halogen-free wearable devices was initiated in 2017. The continued development of products more friendly to the environment meant that there are now 113 halogen-free products in mass production as of 2022.

Energy Conservation

Compal is not in an energy-intensive sector and in our examination of product lifecycles as a whole, we have found that the greatest portion of energy consumption comes from the use of our products. In light of the fact that different regions/countries adopt different standards, Compal has thus chosen to use the US Energy Star as the guideline in the assessment of products’ energy-saving performance. Compal has been systematically developing its software and hardware design capabilities, introducing modular designs, and using checklists that have been independently developed by relevant departments to ensure compliance of its products.

In 2022 there were 134 models of notebook products in mass production. 113 models passed ENERGY STAR testing and 4 LCD models also passed testing.
Easy to Recycle and Disassemble 

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive)(WEEE Directive) For Compal, issues such as waste reduction and re-use of resources have already been taken into consideration during the design stage, where environmentally friendly materials are used as much as possible while numerous design improvements are introduced to make products easier to recycle.

In 2022, Compal helped calculate the recycling ratio for 77 notebook models. The recycling ratio in 68 projects exceeded 85% and in 6 projects even exceeded 95%, far exceeding the recycling ratio of 65% mandated by the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE).
 
 
 
Packing Material Reduction

Packaging materials play an important role before end-products reach the consumers as they offer the cushion needed to protect goods from collision during transportation. Compal has continuously improved packaging design with the goal of reducing, simplifying, and making optimum use of packaging materials for a lesser impact on the environment.

The 2020 notebook packaging optimization project made changes to the design of the shock absorption structure and eliminated dividers to save on material and manpower costs. According to internal calculations the project produced potential savings of up to NT$5,581,620. The 2021 notebook packaging optimization project optimized the label printing method, introduced automated box-folding and procedural optimizations, and reduced packaging volume to increase pallet utilization. Annual savings amounted to NT$4,607,810. In 2022, the focus was on packaging and plastic reduction. In addition to reducing the environmental impact from plastic packaging materials, the initiative also reduced power consumption by 90,720 kWh for annual savings of up to NT$841,856.
Ensuring Customer Safety and Health

According to the ESG philosophy, if a product causes a hazard that harms customer health or safety, this will not only negatively impact on Compal’s reputation for professionalism among its peers but may also lead to massive consumer as well. Compal therefore knows that ensuring the health and safety of customers will help the Company maintain its organizational reputation, legal and financial stability, market differentiation, and employee morale. These will in turn help strengthen the corporate spirit of sustainability. There were no violations of product safety specifications in 2022. Product problems, causes, impacts, and solutions recorded in repair reports are periodically compiled by the repair department. To ensure that products manufactured by Compal are fully safe under normal usage by preventing the six major hazards of accidental electric shocks, energy risks, mechanical injury, radiation, chemical hazards, and high-temperature burns from the product casing or internal parts/components, the product safety concept is incorporated by the Compal product safety department during the design phase for notebook, AIO desktop computer, and tablet PC products in accordance with the IEC 60950-1 and IEC 62368-1 international standards developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). In-house testing is completed by the Compal safety lab before a third-party verification body is engaged for witness testing to ensure that all products are built to international standards and obtain safety certification. The safety certification for international standards are then used to apply for product safety certification in the designated country or region (e.g. Korea, India, Taiwan, North America, Europe, Middle East etc.) based on brand customer’s own market strategy.

The Compal product safety department and brand name customers collaborated in 2022 to co-design a tablet PC for special environments. The UL 12101 9th edition and CSA C22.2 No. 2213 3rd edition standards governing “Standard for Use of Nonincendive Electronic Equipment in Hazardous Locations” was introduced by the product safety department.. The products were also certified by a third-party body so that the end user can safely use a product in the Class 1, Division 2 hazardous locations designated by the aforementioned regulation. This prevents dust or flammable gas explosions over a wide area due to static on equipment circuit or tiny sparks. The result is an “explosion-proof (explosion prevention) tablet.
Key Performance of Product Sustainability Stewardship

Compal has been committed to providing green products to the market and the clients for years, carrying out the concept of sustainability from cradle to grave, in every phase of product life cycle. From product design, material management, through manufacturing, product usage, to disposal and recycling, we uphold and show our belief of "minimizing environmental damage".  We have set relevant KPIs to review the result of product sustainability management periodically.

By continuous tracking, evaluating and improving the KPIs, we persist in fulfilling our commitment to share and support the value of sustainability.
 
Updated on July 19, 2023