Putting the Recycling Business in the Black  (Ricoh Group/Japan)
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imagio Neo 753RC/603RC released in February 2008 |
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Resource conservation and recycling constitute one of the pillars of the Ricoh Group's environmental conservation activities. Since the early 1990s, we have been recycling our products, such as copiers and laser printers. More than 200,000 units of our used products are collected each year, all of which are fully recovered*1 or reused to make other recycled products. In order to continuously promote recycling, it is necessary to create economic value from recycling.
Thus, Ricoh has been engaged in recycling copiers by collecting used machines from the market and putting them back on the market again. However, we had to deal with various problems before we could get our recycling business on track. Production plans for recycled products depend on the amount and quality of used machines collected from the market, and recycled copiers are the previous generation's products –thus they are functionally inferior to the current machines.
Having overcome these obstacles one by one, we achieved sales of recycled copiers exceeding 10,000 units in fiscal 2006, and we achieved a profit for the first time since we commenced the recycling business in 1998. At present, we offer a wide variety of recycled machines with a copying productivity ranging from 35 pages/min. to 75 pages/min. Taking the imagio Neo 753RC as an example, an average of 88% (mass ratio) of the parts used are recycled parts, and its environmental impacts over its whole lifecycle and during its manufacturing process are reduced by about 28% and about 94%, respectively, compared with those of the previous model.*2
*1. Recycling rate of 99.5% or more
*2. Comparison between imagio Neo 753RC and imagio Neo 753 (new copier)
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LCA Comparison Between a New Machine and a Recycled Copier (CO2 Emissions)
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A comparison is made by calculating the annual environmental impact of new and recycled copiers over a 5-year period and 10-year period (i.e., 5 years for new copiers and another 5 years for recycled ones), respectively. |
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Figures for CO2 emissions by copiers in operation at customer sites were not included in the calculation of the data. |
Improving the Efficiency of Used Product Collection (Ricoh Group/Japan)
Used copiers are first collected by Ricoh's local sales subsidiaries/dealers or our Green Centers located in 11 cities across Japan, where collected products are inspected and sorted. Specifically, serial number, the number of sheets copied, damage, conditions of power cables and paper feeders, etc., are checked to determine whether the collected products are recoverable enough to become recycled products.
Collected products identified as being in good condition are then sent to regional Aggregation Centers, where further examinations are conducted, including the inspection of various functions such as power supply, panel display, and paper input and output. If necessary, simple repairs are also done there. Only those that have passed such a rigorous twofold inspection are finally sent to recovery centers. These processes underpin the high recovery efficiency of our used products. Furthermore, our original "Collection Forecast System," developed in September 2004, allows us to project the number of units to be collected accurately, and thus to develop detailed production and marketing plans and expand our recycled copier business substantially.
Key Green Centers (Collection Centers) and Recovery Centers in Japan (for Copiers)
Quality Control and Efficiency Improvement in the Course of Production Processes for Recycled Products (Ricoh Group/Japan)
Our recycled products are manufactured in accordance with the same quality standards as our regular products. At recovery centers, used products are examined again to note the conditions (quality, deterioration, etc.) of each part, and they are then disassembled, cleaned, and washed. Data stored in the disk drives undergoes complete erasure at that time.
In the assembling process, deteriorated parts and supplies are replaced with new ones. Then, assembled products, just as regular products, go through paper feeding tests, fine-tuning, and a finishing process. Finally, the finished recycled products go to the market with the same quality warranty as our regular products. These recycling flows are managed under Ricoh's original "Recycling information system," whereby each unit collected is bar-coded to trace its status throughout the process.
The system allows efficient production of recycled products because its ability of unit-by-unit management enables identification of which collected items are currently going through which process.
Recycling process for copiers
Collection of Used Products and Sales of Recycled Copiers in the Asian Market  (Ricoh (Thailand) Ltd. /Thailand)
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Manufacturing recycled copiers at Ricoh (Thailand) Ltd. |
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Ricoh (Thailand) Ltd., a sales subsidiary in Thailand, implemented its full-fledged copier recycling business in fiscal 2003, in response to market demand for high-quality recycled copiers. Roughly half of all recovered copiers are recycled and sold, thanks to an improved collection infrastructure and recycling technologies.
Promoting Used Toner Cartridge Collection through the Internet
 (Ricoh Group/Europe)
The E Return Web System started to operate in October 2007 in Germany to promote the collection of used toner cartridges throughout Germany. The system accepts customers' requests on the Internet and arranges a pickup by DHL's home delivery service. Previously, used toner cartridges were returned through post offices. With this system, customers do not have to go to a post office. Collected toner cartridges are transported to the National Green Center in Germany for recycling, and reusable cartridges are sent to production sites in the U.K. and France. Building on this successful operation in Germany, the Ricoh Group will introduce the system and establish green centers in other countries.
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