Concept of Product Development |
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The Ricoh Group develops products to keep the integrated environmental impact of all products during their life cycles below the limit at which the global environment is sustainable. First, the Eco Balance data on the environmental impact caused by overall business activities are identified, and based on the results, targets for products covered by the action plans are set (Plan). The design division then draws up LCA-based designs to achieve the targets (Do). Results from the LCA-based designs are reviewed again (Check) before being reflected in development goals for the next models (Action). The Group is also committed to developing new product materials that effectively reduce environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle and environmental technologies that reduce paper consumption. The Group also discloses relevant information.
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Focused Areas for Environmental Technologies
Promotion of Development of
Environmental Technologies
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The development of environmental technologies is one of the most important efforts to realize sustainable environmental management. It is the basis for providing customers with "products that unobtrusively contribute to a reduction in environmental impact while in use" and for simultaneously realizing both a reduction in environmental impact and the creation of economic value. In addition, based on the Year 2050 Extra-Long-Term Environmental Vision, the Ricoh Group has established medium- and long-term plans for the four fields, namely, "energy conservation," "resource conservation and recycling," "pollution prevention (environmental comfort)," and "reduction in paper use in printing/copying." Not only the R&D Division but also all business divisions and affiliates are engaged in developing environmental technologies and products.
Non-contact Rewritable Laser Technology |
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Ricoh has developed and put into practical use its own rewritable technology to write and erase characters and images on a sheet using the difference in temperature. To apply this technology, Ricoh is also developing a non-contact rewritable technology that can write and erase images from a distance using a laser beam, without making contact with the rewritable sheet. With this technology, for example, rewritable sheets used as address labels can be rewritten repeatedly while still attached to containers/boxes. This enables us to reuse containers/boxes with their labels as a unit. Since there is no need to use a printer to print the label and erase it, this saves the trouble of peeling off sheets whenever they need to be rewritten. We expect the use of rewritable sheets to expand significantly.
Disclosure of Information Using Environmental Labels |
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It is important not only to develop environmentally-friendly products through the use of environmental technologies and LCA-based design, but also to disclose information in an easy-to-understand manner. Ricoh is actively engaged in introducing environmental labels so that customers will understand that our products are environmentally-friendly. We are making efforts to gain Eco Mark approval in Japan and also Type I environmental label approval in other countries.
* For details on environmental labels, refer to our web site.
Promotion of LCA-based Design |
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LCA-based design is a process where targets are set to reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their lifecycles, and the PDCA cycle is used to achieve these targets. To effectively reduce the environmental impact of all its products over generations, the Ricoh Group quantifies targets for reduction by "integrated environmental impact" and promotes LCA-based design. In addition, the Group is developing a CAD system and LCA calculation tool to facilitate the design process.
Position of LCA in Sustainable Environmental Management
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Lifecycle Assessment (LCA)
LCA means quantitatively identifying which and how much environmental impact exists in the lifecycle of a product, from the gathering of resources for the production of raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, marketing, use, maintenance, collection, recycling, and disposal. LCA may also be applied to part of the above cycle.
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