Shift to natural gas boilers  (Yamanashi Electronics Co., Ltd./Japan)
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Natural gas boiler that takes up 60% less space than the previous boiler |
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Yamanashi Electronics Co., Ltd., which joined the Ricoh Group in November 2006, produces selenium/organic photoconductor drums, among others. Over the period from April 2007 to August 2008 boilers at its main plants, the Miyahara and Osato plants,
which were fueled by heavy oil and used for the production of organic photoconductors, were replaced with high-efficiency boilers using natural gas. As a result, not only was fuel consumption reduced but also the area needed to house the boilers shrunk by about 60%. In addition,
the tanks for the storage of heavy oil became no longer necessary, and related and troublesome management work has been reduced.
These efforts realize a reduction equivalent to about 531 tons of annual CO2 emissions, or cost reduction of about ¥9.8 million (on a full capacity basis).
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Change in heating methods for parts molding process
 (Ricoh Asia Industry (Shenzhen) Ltd./China)
In the parts production department of Ricoh Asia Industry (Shenzhen) Ltd. (RAI), heat energy used in the molding process, which requires heat for the dissolution of materials, had a significant environmental impact.
In January 2009, the heating method for this process was replaced with an IH heating method. As a result, electricity consumption fell by about 28%, while energy needed for air conditioning also dropped as no extra heat is emitted from the device.
In addition, the life of screws became six times longer than before, which resulted in a significant reduction in facility costs. This improvement produced a CO2 reduction effect of 12.4 tons, and we plan to apply the new method to other facilities to achieve even greater effects.
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