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Evaluation Methods
- Eco Balance -

Evaluation Methods

Eco Balance

Environmental Accounting

Summary

Review of Fiscal 2008

Summary

The Ricoh Group introduced the concept of Eco Balance in fiscal 1998 to clarify the environmental impact caused by all its businesses and effectively reduce it. Currently, the Ricoh Group is calculating the integrated environmental impact using EPS, which is an integrated analysis method developed by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute Ltd. We adopted EPS because we found that its characteristics agree with the Ricoh Group's ideas about environmental impact caused by the collection of resources and the Comet Circle, Ricoh's original concept aimed at establishing a sustainable society, after evaluating various methods adopted at home and/or abroad. We have mapped out environmental action plans based upon the concept of Eco Balance since fiscal 2002 and have applied the concept in the formulation of environmental goals that take a longer perspective since fiscal 2005.

Flow of Eco Balance and evaluation of integrated environmental impact

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Review of Fiscal 2008

While the Ricoh Group's sales decreased 5.8% from the previous fiscal year, the integrated environmental impact for the whole group, including the impact imposed by new businesses and businesses targeting developing countries, increased by 5.5% over the previous fiscal year. The major cause of the impact was our business processes, such as procurement of raw materials and parts, and the use of our products by customers (through power and paper consumption). The level of impact generated at the stages of material and parts procurement and manufacturing decreased due to increased environmental efficiency in line with environmental action plans, as well as to the economic slowdown on a global scale. Meanwhile, we evaluated the environmental impact imposed in the customer-use phase by the Ricoh imaging equipment sold in the past five years. The result shows that power and paper consumption due to product use increases with the growing number of units sold.

*New businesses and businesses targeting developing countries

The Eco Balance on this page includes data for new businesses, such as those that were acquired through M&A in and after fiscal 2000, and businesses that are targeted to developing countries. In the graph Changes in Integrated Environmental Impact ("Summary of Sustainable Environmental Management"), though, these businesses are excluded in order to make feasible comparisons with the fiscal year 2000 standards.

* New Evaluation Method for LCA Data

LCA Data
We now use data prepared by Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc. based on the LCA database published by the Life Cycle Assessment Society of Japan (JLCA).

Data for the Recycling Process Added
The recycling process after imaging products are recovered (material recycle, thermal recycle, incineration/land filling) was added.

* Data Coverage for Environmental Impact

Data coverage (the ratio of sales for the companies and businesses from which data was collected to the sales of the companies and businesses in the whole group) for the fiscal 2008 Ricoh Group environmental impact (integrated environmental impact) was 99.3%. The data for newly acquired businesses through M&A (in and before fiscal 2007: 6.7% worth for Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd., Yamanashi Electronics Co., Ltd. and InfoPrint Solutions Company LLC; in fiscal 2008: 5.8% for IKON Office Solutions, Inc.) were added to fiscal 2008 data.

Eco Balance of overall business activities (Fiscal 2008) PDF (490KB)

Eco Balance of overall business activities PDF

*: "E+n"means "×10ⁿ"
(Example) 1.45E+08 = 1.45 × 10⁸


	Evaluation Methods				Environmental Accounting

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Evaluation Methods- Eco Balance -

Summary

Review of Fiscal 2008

Evaluation Methods
- Eco Balance -