Providing
customers with user-friendly and eco-friendly
products
The development
of environmental technologies is one of
the most important activities in the promotion
of sustainable management. In order to contribute
to society by reducing the environmental
impact of its products and ensure profitability
by marketing products with less environmental
impact, the Ricoh Group needs to develop
user-friendly environmental technologies
that will be accepted by more consumers.
To market products that have less environmental
impact throughout their life cycles, from
manufacturing and use to recycling, each
division is engaged in the development of
new environmental technologies, and through
LCA* reduce the environmental impact of
products from the following three aspects:
energy conservation, resource conservation
and recycling, and pollution prevention.
*
LCA, or life cycle assessment, quantifies
the environmental impact of products from
the procurement of materials to manufacturing,
transportation, marketing, use, maintenance,
collection, recycling, and disposal. LCA
can target the whole process or only a part
of it.
Development of Environmental Technologies
In April
2002, Ricoh established the Environmental
Technology R&D Center as a division
to drive environmental technologies
and improve sustainable management.
The center is committed to dramatically
improve Ricoh's resource and environmental
efficiency and create unique values
to be provided to the public. Specifically,
the center makes medium- and long-term
technological development plans in the
following four areas: reduction in paper
use in printing/copying, energy conservation,
resource conservation and recycling,
and pollution prevention.
- Reduction in Paper Use in Printing/Copying
To help
our customers reduce the use of paper
in printing/copying, we promote the
development and practical use of rewritable
paper and electronic paper. In this
area, we are developing new technologies
that would reduce the use of paper or
use paper in a way that causes less
environmental impact.
- Energy Conservation
To further
conserve energy in the office equipment
domain, which is one of the Ricoh Group's
existing business domains, we are promoting
the development of technologies that
do not require the use of energy and
technologies for the efficient use of
energy. Also, as a new business
domain, research is conducted for the
development of new energy technologies,
including fuel cells.
- Resource Conservation and Recycling
Research is also conducted on the 3Rs (reduce,
reuse, and recycling) of products. To
promote reduce design in products, medium-
and long-term plans are made to prolong
the life of products. Under the medium-term
plan that ends fiscal 2010, the focus
is placed on the establishment of a
production system that recirculates
resources. This system facilitates the
reuse of products by introducing a platform
and module design.
- Pollution Prevention
In the
area of pollution prevention, technological
research is being conducted under the
following two themes: the complete suspension
of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) use and
improving the office environment by
reducing the dust and noise office equipment
emits when in use.
Quantification
of Environmental Impact and Disclosure
of Relevant Information
The
Ricoh Group conducts research on LCA
to quantify the environmental impact
of products throughout their life cycles
and develop products with higher environmental
performance based on the quantified
data. Also, we actively disclose relevant
data through Type I Environmental Labels,
Type II Environmental Labels, and Type
III Environmental Declaration. In the
industry, the Ricoh Group is a leader
in the establishment of criteria for
Environmental Labels and the timely
and reliable disclosure of relevant
information.
LCA
Research
The LCA
Group, which was founded by Ricoh in 1994,
conducts research on practical methods of
utilizing LCA. In conducting various field
surveys, the LCA Group discovered the importance
of setting clear goals when using LCA and
found it difficult to collect data and set
appropriate assessment criteria. The know-how
obtained by the LCA Group is effectively
utilized in the use of LCA by Ricoh Group
companies and manufacturing subsidiaries.
Also, to contribute to the development of
LCA Ricoh participates in external committees
to conduct joint research on LCA with scholars
and representatives from other companies.
In fiscal 2002, the Company did an LCA for
the imagio Neo 220 and imagio MF4570RC and
MF3570 RC (reconditioned digital copiers)
and disclosed the results on its Web
site and in
product brochures. The Company also uses
LCA as a method of examining technological
themes.
Ricoh Group is actively involved in all
Type I, Type II and Type III environmental
labeling.
 Click here for information on Environmental Labels.
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