E Ink the originator, pioneer, and global commercial leader in digital paper technology, today announced that the carbon footprint of their 6.8-inch ePaper module for eReaders and its 2.9-inch ePaper 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 ePaper module is 3.30 kg CO2; every 2.9-inch ePaper module is 0.59 kg CO2e.

In December 2021, E Ink announced its pledge to reach 100% use of renewable energy by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Throughout 2022, E Ink says it will be actively reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the design and manufacturing process of ePaper 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 ePaper 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 ePaper modules, the 6.8-inch module for eReaders 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 ePaper module assembly based on the functions of each site within the company, including the Massachusetts site in North America, and Hsinchu, Linkou and Yangzhou sites in Asia.

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 (ePaper) displays. Findings have shown significant CO2 savings with the use of E Ink ePaper displays.

• As an example, a financial institution with 125 branches saves 16.5 million A4-sized paper sheets each year when they adopt an eNote using E Ink’s technology, and contributes approximately 1,100 tons of CO2 reduction each year.
• In the past 5 years, 130 million eReaders 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 eReaders with an E Ink display and LCD devices would emit more than 50 times the CO2 versus eReaders 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, ePaper tags can reduce CO2 emissions by 32,000 times versus single-use paper price tags.
• Comparing the energy usage of ePaper 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 ePaper material a savings of 400 kWh is realized.
• E Ink’s low power ePaper enables solar-powered ePaper signage and bus stops around the world to be net-zero devices, using 100 percent renewable energy.

Working toward the goals of 100% use of renewable energy by 2030, and net zero carbon emissions by 2040, E Ink says it will continue to verify carbon footprints of its new ePaper technologies and products. E Ink also says it will provide its methodology of verifying the carbon footprint of ePaper products as a reference for its customers to design and develop ePaper 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.