E INK the originator, pioneer, and global commercial leader in digital paper technology, today announced that the carbon footprint of their 6.8 inch e-paper module for e-readers and their 2.9 inch e-paper module for electronic shelf labels (ESL) have been verified by the British Standards Institution (BSI), as being in compliance with the ISO 14067:2018 standard. The carbon footprint of every 6.8 inch e-paper module is 3.30 kg CO2; every 2.9 inch e-paper module is 0.59 kg CO2e.
In December 2021, E Ink announced their pledge to reach 100% use of renewable energy by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Throughout 2022, E Ink will be actively reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from the design and manufacturing process of e-paper displays. By conducting a study on the carbon footprint of ePaper products, the Company will not only determine the amount of carbon emission in the manufacturing processes of e-paper modules, but it will also provide E Ink a framework to develop a solid carbon emission reduction plan.
This carbon footprint verification selected the most commonly used e-paper modules, the 6.8 inch module for e-readers and the 2.9 inch module for ESL. The verification focused on the GHG emissions during the material receiving and manufacturing stages and throughout the life cycle of the products. The carbon footprint data investigation includes the raw material production, materials transportation and product manufacturing of the e-paper module assembly based on the functions of each site within the Company, including Massachusetts site in North America, and Hsinchu, Linkou and Yangzhou sites in Asia.
“E Ink e-paper is an eco-friendly display with ultra-low power consumption and low carbon emission, but when facing a worldwide challenge of net zero carbon emission, we have to actively take additional actions to implement a low carbon emission plan.” said Johnson Lee, CEO of E Ink Holding. “The carbon footprint verification provides clear data to learn the carbon emission data generated by the e-paper materials and modules in the manufacturing process, thereby establishing the carbon footprint methodology of e-paper products. This allows E Ink to review and modify the product design and manufacturing process for carbon footprint reduction. We hope to not only develop and manufacture green e-paper products and develop low-carbon smart displays, but also reduce the impact of GHG by implementing low-carbon green manufacturing processes.”
In accordance with the ISO 14067:2018 standard, E Ink compiled information based on the principles of completeness, consistency, accuracy, relevance and transparency, set thorough regulations on the GHG emissions throughout the product life cycle, and made impact assessments. The data and supporting materials of this inventory were verified and assured by British Standards Institution (BSI) and the verification statement of reasonable level of assurance has been obtained.
Apart from Carbon Footprint Researches, E Ink has been studying the CO2 effects of displays using paper or LCD versus electronic paper displays. Findings have shown significant CO2 savings with the use of E Ink displays.
- As an example, a financial institution with 125 branches saves 16.5 million A4-sized paper sheets each year when they adopt an e-note using E Ink’s technology, and contributes approximately 1,100 tons of CO2 reduction each year.
- In the past 5 years, 130 million e-readers have been in use globally, replacing the purchase of paper editions of books. It is estimated that paper books would emit more than 100,000 times the CO2 versus e-readers with an E Ink display and LCD devices would emit more than 50 times the CO2 versus e-readers throughout that time.
- Over the past seven years, 600 million electronic shelf labels (ESLs) of around three inches in size have been installed worldwide. If it is assumed that the price and information is changed four (4) times a day, e-paper tags can reduce CO2 emissions by 32,000 times versus single-use paper price tags.
- Comparing the energy usage of e-paper retail tags versus LCD retail tags over a period of five years, with four updates per day, for every kilowatt hour (kWh) consumed to manufacture the e-paper material a savings of 400 kWh is realized.
- E Ink’s low power e-paper enables solar-powered e-paper signage and bus stops around the world to be net-zero devices, using 100 percent renewable energy.
Working towards the goals of 100% use of renewable energy by 2030, and net zero carbon emissions by 2040, E Ink will continue to verify carbon footprints of its new e-aper technologies and products. E Ink will provide its methodology of verifying the carbon footprint of e-paper products as a reference for its customers to design and develop e-paper products with low carbon emissions. E Ink’s carbon footprint is also a reference for suppliers to verify their product carbon footprint by E Ink’s framework in accordance with the ISO 14067:2018 standard.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
