Eco Labels in Sustainable ASUS Products

Mar 01, 2024

Eco labels help customers identify products that are environmentally friendly. They indicate a product’s qualifications for stricter environmental standards that exceed basic requirements regulated by law. This helps customers make confident decisions when choosing a product designed with eco-friendliness in mind.

ASUS has invested large amounts in R&D resources to create greener products with improved durability, safer materials and chemicals, lower energy consumption, better battery efficiency, lightness, design for end of life, repairability, and recyclability. Such efforts have helped ASUS acquire multiple ecolabels including EPEAT, TCO, Taiwan Green Mark, China Environmental Labeling, Japan Eco Mark, and ENERGY STAR® certifications. ASUS has realized significant milestones in our sustainability efforts during recent years – in 2022 more than 87.2% of ASUS’s qualified revenue came from eco-friendly products.

You might wonder what exact standards products need to meet to be verified with eco labels and what makes these certifications so significant. Below is a detailed introduction to eco labels found on ASUS products. Read on to learn more!

Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) is currently the most prestigious ecolabel for electronics managed by the Global Electronics Council® (GEC). Products are evaluated based on 10 eco-friendly metrics - substance management, material selection, product longevity, energy conservation, end of life management, packaging, life cycle assessment and carbon footprint, corporate environmental performance, and corporate social responsibility. There are mandatory and optional criteria in these 10 categories. Based on the number of optional criteria met which accumulates points as a metric, products are eligible for registration in three tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

A wide array of ASUS products are EPEAT registered, including laptops, desktops, all-in-one pcs, and monitors. Many ASUS products are registered at the EPEAT Gold level – meaning that they meet the most demanding EPEAT requirements. This is good news for the environment. Through quantifying saved resources based on the environmental metrics provided by EPEAT such as saved energy per model multiplied by the amount of EPEAT registered laptops sold, we have achieved a reduction of 23,233 tonnes of CO2e greenhouse gas emission, 3,207 tonnes of solid waste reduction, 670,000 tonnes of saved water, and 114,629 MWh of saved electricity in 2022.

In sight of increasing extreme weather conditions, GEC launched EPEAT Climate+ criteria in 2023 to help customers identify which EPEAT registered products are designed with mitigating climate change in mind. EPEAT Climate+ requires products to be EPEAT registered, and they also need to meet criteria focusing on third-party verified product carbon disclosures, science based GHG reduction targets, energy efficient manufacturing, and product use of renewable energy.

ASUS is named an EPEAT Climate+ champion by GEC, which speaks for our early adoption and leadership on climate change mitigation. We have taken rigorous action to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions. In 2022, ASUS used renewable energy for 15% of our global operations and we aim to reach 100% by 2035. Our near-term carbon reduction targets have been approved by Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) which shows that our set goals are reasonable and achievable. In 2022, key ASUS suppliers successfully reduced their carbon emissions intensity (calculated by tons CO2e/ million USD) by approximately 24% compared to the baseline year of 2020. ASUS also tries to make our carbon reduction efforts as transparent as possible through carbon footprint reports on products which include quantitative and qualitative information.

TCO Certifications are issued by TCO Development, which is a leading ecolabel for the IT industry. Products applying for TCO certification are evaluated under two main categories – Usability and Environment. Although there is partial overlap regarding certification metrics between TCO and EPEAT, TCO certification covers packaging, emission, electrical safety, and overall focuses mainly on safety aspects. It also covers a broader range of products, including projectors and headsets. ASUS has products certified with TCO in monitor displays and laptops.

ENERGY STAR® is operated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was launched in 1992. It has grown to become an internationally recognized ecolabel for energy efficiency and helps consumers or businesses looking to save money on energy and electricity choose energy-efficient products.

Efforts for energy efficiency are evident in ASUS hardware. We continuously invest in R&D to create solutions that reduce energy loss between components and to make designs more efficient. In these efforts ASUS achieved several milestones in recent years. Our laptops launched in 2022 displayed an impressive 34.6% better energy efficiency on average than the minimum ENERGY STAR® requirements. In the same year, products that met ENERGY STAR® standards accounted for 65% of company revenue. In addition, ASUS has been recognized with the ENERGY STAR Most Efficient award for three consecutive years since 2022.

For tips on how to reduce energy consumption and save your battery, we have several pointers in this article here. If you are also curious about ASUS products that comply with the latest EPEAT requirements, the list is searchable on EPEAT Official website.

The new Zenbook DUO (2024) UX8406 dual-screen laptop was introduced to the world during CES 2024. It features two 14-inch 3K OLED touchscreens enabling four different possible setups – dual screen mode, laptop mode, desktop mode, and sharing mode. Zenbook DUO is a capable machine with up to Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 processor. It boasts multiple ecolabels including EPEAT Gold* and ENERGY STAR®, and its packaging is FSC™-certified packaging.

The cover and bottom cases of Zenbook DUO are made with 90% post-industrial recycled (PIR) magnesium-aluminum. The FSC™ mix certified packaging is eco-friendly because it uses recycled paper made from responsible wood sources, plus the packaging parts are designed to be easily upcycled and transformed into laptop stands. Learn more about sustainable ASUS packaging here.

The elegant Zenbook 14 OLED comes with a powerful Intel® Core ™ Ultra processor (UX3405). This AI-ready, stylish laptop exceeds ENERGY STAR® standards by 50% and is registered for EPEAT Gold. It has passed shock, vibration, high temperature, low temperature, and altitude tests for military-grade durability which means it has an extreme temperature endurance. This prolongs the laptop’s lifespan and eases environmental impact resulting through disposal and repurchasing.

Carefully engineered without compromising quality, functionality, or durability, 50% of the Zenbook 14 OLED’s slim 1.2 kg chassis is made of post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics. Plus, the packaging of this model is made with FSC™-certified materials.

ASUS continues to develop sustainable solutions. Click the button below to learn more about how we manage our supply chain to run a greener, more responsible business.

*EPEAT Gold registered in the U.S. EPEAT registration varies by country. See www.epeat.net for registration status by country.