From "cradle
to cradle" The Ricoh Group promotes
establishment of a resource-recirculating
logistics system.
To achieve
a resource-recirculating society, one important
issue is the establishment of a logistics
system for transportation of products. The
Ricoh Group, led by Ricoh Logistics System
Co., Ltd., is striving to create a resource-recirculating
logistics system, in which arterial and
venous logistics are integrated. Successful
examples in Japan will be introduced around
the world as examples of global supply chain
management (SCM). A similar system was established
in France in April 2003. These efforts will
be further developed in the Americas, China,
and the Asia-Pacific region.
Establishing a Resource-Recirculating
Logistics System  (Japan)
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Reflecting a shift
from the traditional "cradle to grave"
LCA concept, Ricoh Logistics System Co.,
Ltd. is working to create a resource-recirculating,
"cradle to cradle" logistics system
in which arterial and venous logistics are
integrated. To reduce the environmental
impact of pro-duct delivery, which predominates
in arterial logistics, a direct delivery
system from plants to customers is being
set up. To make the recycling business more
profitable, a
nationwide system of green centers (collection centers) must
be estab-lished, as well as systems for
direct deliv-ery to customers and collection
systems. Aiming to collect used products
directly from customers, Ricoh Logistics
obtained a permit to collect and transport
industrial waste in 98 administrative districts
around the country to improve the quality
of the resource-recirculating logistics
system.
Identifying and Reducing Environmental
Impact (Japan)
|
Ricoh Logistics
System has obtained ISO14001 certification
at a total of nine business sites including
the Tokyo head office, as well as sites
in Tohoku (Miyagi), Atsugi, and Osaka. Of
the company's 80 business sites in Japan,
46 are scheduled for certification by November
2003. Aiming to reduce the environmental
impact from vehicle use, 30 out of 250 company
vehicles were switched to natural gas. Further
efforts include semi-annual training programs
in economical driving and company-produced
video education programs on eco-driving.
The company is also making efforts to reduce
waste, which has a significant environmental
impact, in addition to fuel consumption.
The company has achieved Zero-Waste-to-Landfill
at five business sites as of the end of
fiscal 2002.
Modal Shift (Japan)
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Aiming to reduce
the environmental impact and cost of product
transportation, Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd.,
a manufacturing subsidiary, entered into
partnership with Japan Freight Railway Company
to promote a modal shift from truck to
railway transportation. This resulted in
a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions
of 117 tons and a cut in transport expenses
of approximately 57 million yen.
 Click here for Segment Environmental Accounting.
Improvement of Packaging for Copiers
and Other Equipment (Japan)
|
| The Ricoh Group
has developed reusable packaging materials
for copiers and other products, including
resource-recirculating eco-packaging
for copiers made of recycled plastic,
and pipe-framed reusable racks for
printers. At present, 7,500 sets of
resource-recirculating eco-packaging
are used for eight copier models.
New mini reusable racks are also on
the market. At the end of fiscal 2002,
more than 70% of the products manufactured
at Gotemba Plant, which is a major
copier manufac-turing plant, were
shipped in resource-recirculating
eco-packaging. Using such packaging
materials and bringing the waste produced
at the customers' offices back
for recycling help cut waste at the
customer end to zero. |
 |
Resource-recirculating
eco-packaging is available for eight
models of copiers.
Reusable
racks enable products to be delivered
with the optional devices attached.
New-type
mini reusable racks |
Improvement of Packaging for Digital
Cameras  (International)
|
| In order
to reduce the environmental impact
of digital cameras in transportation,
a review was conducted to reduce packaging
and enclosures including manuals.
Previously, 16 enclosures, including
five manuals, were included in a
single package. By creating simple,
user-friendly manuals the number of
enclosures was cut to four, including
one manual and one CD-ROM. For products
shipped to Europe, where a variety
of languages are spoken, a new packaging
method was developed whereby only
English and German manuals are packed
at the Ricoh Group production sites
in China. Enclosures in seven other
European languages are packed locally.
The Caplio RR30, marketed in September
2002, has a packaging volume of 1,978cm3,
a significant reduction from the 5,830cm3
of the previous model, the Caplio
RR10. The same concept was applied
to the Caplio 300G/G3/G3 Model M/G3
Model S. |
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Packaging
of the Caplio RR30, a new product
(right), and packaging of the Caplio
R10, an earlier product (left) |
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