Sustainable Environmental Management
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- Energy Conservation and Prevention of Global Warming
- Resource Conservation and Recycling
- Pollution Prevention
- Conservation of Biodiversity
We at the Ricoh Group promote sustainable environmental management, which is designed to contribute to environmental conservation while at the same time generating profits. We recognize that business activities in general depend on natural resources and global ecosystems, as well as social systems which are built upon them, and that environmental issues such as global warming, natural resource depletion, and ecosystem degradation, impart various risks as well as opportunities. We specifically focus on the development of energy-efficient products, cost reductions though efficient use of energy and resources, the development of alternatives to depleting natural resources, and the development and promotion of a work style that improves operational and energy efficiency, among others. Through these activities, we are striving for early development and implementation of a business model that helps create a sustainable society that generates minimal environmental impact.
Achieving environmental conservation and profits simultaneously
The Ricoh Group promotes sustainable environmental management, in which continuous environmental conservation efforts are an integral part of its business activities. We aim to achieve both environmental conservation and profits simultaneously.
At the Ricoh Group, sustainable environmental management does not mean striking a balance between environmental conservation activities and profit generation activities. We recognize that very limited benefits will come from our environmental conservation efforts if we only conduct them actively during prosperous, financially strong times and then neglect them to place more importance on profits in difficult times. We must make solid, continuous efforts towards the long-term objective of making our environmental conservation activities effective enough to make a difference.
Comet Circle
If a corporation only deals with environmental impact that is directly associated with its own business activities, its environmental conservation activities will never lead to a reduction in the environmental impact to society as a whole. Based on this recognition, the Ricoh Group established the Comet Circle in 1994 as the basis to encourage the creation of a sustainable society. This concept is built upon our awareness that product manufacturers like Ricoh can make the greatest contribution to reducing environmental impact of products in the market because it is manufacturers who determine product designs and specifications. This means that product manufacturers and distributors like Ricoh are responsible for reducing environmental impact across the entire life cycle of their products, which includes their own business activities as well as upstream and downstream development.
Four pillars of the Ricoh Group's sustainable environmental management
To achieve a sustainable society, it is necessary to limit environmental impact to a level that fits within the Earth's self-recovery capabilities. Therefore, the Ricoh Group's sustainable environmental management focuses on four pillars: energy conservation and prevention of global warming, resource conservation and recycling, pollution prevention, and biodiversity conservation. The first three pillars aim to reduce environmental impact from our business activities, while the fourth pillar aims to improve the Earth's self-recovery capabilities.
