Taiwan, Sep. 23, 2009 (PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall) -- AU Optronics Corp. ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) today announced it has completed the carbon footprint verification on its 32" LCD TV set according to international carbon footprint standard PAS2050: 2008. By succeeding in the third party verification by SGS, AUO's 32" LCD TV is the worldwide first LCD TV set to gain Carbon Footprint Verification, which establishes the benchmark on the carbon footprint management for consumer electronic products.
The 32" LCD TV is also included in the UKAS PAS2050 Pilot Project by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). AUO is the only IT Company in this project and will bring its experiences on the carbon footprint management for instituting the international verification standard.
Based on the definition of the life cycle of ISO14044, the carbon emission calculation of AUO's 32" LCD TV carbon footprint project includes each stage of the product life cycle from raw material, manufacturing, delivering, consumer using, discarding, or recycling. Through the indicator of carbon calculation, consumers will know well what the environmental impact is caused by the electronic products they use in the future.
"We are proud that AUO's 32" LCD TV has successfully completed the first carbon footprint verification on LCD TV sets in the world. It truly demonstrates AUO's continuous efforts on implementation of Green Solutions," Dr. L. J. Chen, President and CEO of AUO, said. "Since the manufacturing process of electronic products is very complicated and detailed, there are hundreds of suppliers in the whole supply chain. AUO conducted several suppliers' trainings to launch the carbon footprint management, and developed a carbon database management system to increase the carbon calculation efficiency. From here, AUO successfully built up a flawless program of carbon footprint management for the supply chain. When developing the next generation of eco products, the carbon database system with detailed carbon data of the supply chain will lead AUO to the leading position in low-carbon product innovation."
AUO's 32" LCD TV set that completed the PAS 2050 verification consumes 30% less electricity compared to other same-sized products. The product not only conforms to EuP regulations in 2010 but also complies with Energy Star 3.0 in the U.S. In addition, the cold cathode fluorescent lamps are diminished from 16 straight tubes to 4 u-shape tubes. By substantially decreasing mercury levels by 82%, the product reduces the environmental impact significantly.
AUO is dedicated to developing low carbon products with its innovative R&D capability and mature supply chain management system to assure due care to the earth when providing consumers' amazing digital lives.
