NEC Display Solutions presents comprehensive eco-strategy

Combining its leading edge technology and passion for innovation, NEC is minimising life-cycle environmental impact at the same time as continuing to meet the most demanding customer expectations.

The company is in the process of planning numerous activities and events to take place before the end of the year, which will coincide with the unveiling of new and more eco-friendly products and solutions.

According to a study by market research institute Gartner, commercial IT is responsible for 2% of the world's CO2 emissions - around the same volume as global air travel. The German Energy Agency (DENA) has calculated that, in German households, 11% of electricity consumption is caused by equipment left in standby mode. In Europe, around 25% of electronic waste is currently recycled, which will increase as legal regulations are increasingly implemented.

Ian Gobey, the General Manager of NEC Display Solutions, Middle East, adds:

"The consumer electronics revolution of recent years, for all its benefits, has also yielded an environmental blight in the form of e-waste - obsolete electronics equipment whose toxic materials and sheer volume are placing a strain upon solid waste management systems worldwide. According to a new report from Pike Research, the e-waste crisis will worsen over the next several years until 2015, when volume will peak at 73 million metric tons."

In view of the large quantities of generated waste material, manufacturers have a responsibility to make recycling as easy as possible. NEC Display Solutions has long recognised its corporate responsibilities and is basing its Green Vision campaign on two pillars: Green Productivity and Green Sustainability. Green Productivity is NEC's commitment to more efficiency with less consumption and is based on the use of reliable, leading edge technology. On the one hand, this guarantees an exceptionally long service life with subsequent life-cycle cost-effectiveness of the equipment.

The standard and short-throw projectors recently unveiled, for instance, exhibit a lamp life of up to 1,000 hours more than their predecessors. On the other hand, technical developments allow the reduction in the demand for energy. One example of this is the development of the MultiSync EA display series, in which the number of CCFL backlights per screen has been halved on the MultiSync EA221WMe from four to two. Additionally the MultiSync EA222WMe, which is set to come onto the market at the end of this year, will be the first NEC monitor with white LED backlights which use up to 50 percent less energy than conventional backlights.

More and more NEC products will come equipped with eco-features as standard. These include an Ambient Light Sensor, which measures ambient light levels and automatically adjusts the screen brightness. An easy to adopt Eco Mode gives the user the option of operating the equipment with reduced power consumption at a single touch of a button. A Carbon Savings Meter calculates the quantity of CO2 saved by operating the desktop display, large format display or projector in Eco Mode. CO2 is the simplest measure of environmental impact.

In the supplied manual, NEC provides information about the quantity of emitted CO2 of the particular product in production and operation. At the same time, for desktop monitors, compliance with the latest environmental standards such as TCO 5.0, Energy Star 5.0 or EPEAT is documented. Green Sustainability is NEC's commitment to responsible innovation and production and involves materials management as well as packaging and transport. The use of environmentally hazardous substances such as heavy metals and carcinogens is increasingly banned in the manufacture of products. More bio-plastics, along with recycled metal and plastic, are being used.

By reducing packaging sizes and weights through the removal of the stand feet (it becomes an option) on public displays or creating narrower display designs, packaging materials can be saved and transport efficiency improved. The increasing use of completely recyclable packaging materials will also relieve the burden on the environment "Information technology is an essential part of our society," explains Gobey. "As a manufacturer, we take our responsibility towards the environment very seriously. We've set ourselves the goal of taking a leading role on the road to an information society in which the needs of people combine with those of their environment."