Environmental Rating Names Ricoh World Leader in Photo & Office Equipment Sector
In an environmental rating conducted by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, an environmental rating investment research company based in New York, Ricoh Co., Ltd. received the highest score possible (AAA) in the photo & office equipment sector. This was the highest rating among the 11 companies evaluated.
Innovest conducts environmental ratings based on evaluations of the environmental efficiency and sustainability of companies in the survey. It collects information on up to 60 criteria, based on environmental reports and publications provided by each company, from the following three perspectives: (1) environmental management capacity; (2) environmental risk factors; and (3) strategic opportunity factors. Information that cannot be obtained through publications is collected via direct interviews. Based on this information, companies are evaluated in comparison with other companies in the same industry.
Ricoh was rated particularly highly for the following factors:
- Identifying itself as a "global citizen," the entire Ricoh Group has put environmental management into practice, integrating the pursuit of profits with environmental conservation.
- Ricoh's commitment to reducing its environmental impact on society by developing innovating energy conservation technologies and employing them in Ricoh products with the highest volume of expected shipments. A good example of the company's success in this field can be seen in its digital, multifunctional copiers for the office equipment market.
- The high quality of Ricoh's environmental accounting, and its continued improvements toward its goal of using it as an environmental management tool.
- The following 11 companies were evaluated in the present rating:
- Canon Inc.
- Minolta Co., Ltd.
- Fuji Photo Film Co.,Ltd.
- Ricoh Co., Ltd.
- Agfa-Gevaert Gruppe
- Eastman Kodak Co.
- IKON Office Solutions, Inc.
- Moore Corporation Limited
- Pitney Bowes Inc.
- Polaroid Corporation
- Xerox Corporation
Reference
Ricoh was rated first out of 39 companies in an IT/electronics industry sector environmental rating conducted by the German firm oekom. In addition, Ricoh has garnered the top spot in the Nippon Keizai Shimbun newspaper environmental mangement level ranking (manufacturing sector) for three straight years, from 1998 to 2000. The current rating by US-based Innovest means that Ricoh has won high marks from prominent environmental management rating firms in Japan, the United States, and Europe.
About Innovest
Innovest is an internationally active research advisory firm, specializing in the environment. Innovest analyzes and evaluates firms from new perspectives, including environmental efficiency and sustainability. The firm provides investment analysis using its EcoValue'21TM analytical model, a system built by Innovest that conducts environmental performance ratings similar to the financial ratings provided by Moody's and S&P. In addition to providing portfolio analysis and research services to major fund managers and institutional investors around the world, the firm also provides strategic advice to major corporations. Innovest originally focused its environmental ratings on firms listed on US stock exchanges, but has recently expanded its research to include firms listed on British and Japanese stock exchanges. As of the present time, Innovest has rated over 1,200 firms in the United States, Europe, and Japan. These ratings cover nearly every industry, including petroleum, steel, construction, pharmaceuticals, electronics, precision instruments, and communications.
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