Green Procurement Activities in Partnership with Suppliers
The Ricoh Group promotes green procurement activities that place emphasis on partnership with suppliers.
Green procurement refers to the procurement of raw materials, parts, and products with less environmental impact that are manufactured in plants that are advanced in environmental conservation.
The purpose of green procurement is to reduce the environmental impact over the whole lifecycle of Ricoh products and to reduce the costs to the Ricoh Group and its suppliers by using resources and energy effectively. Moreover, by building these activities, we aim to contribute to global environmental protection and reinforce management practices of the Ricoh Group and its suppliers.
Environmental conservation activities at suppliers are implemented in three areas: resource conservation and recycling, pollution prevention, and energy conservation and prevention of global warming. To support these activities, suppliers are requested to establish environmental management systems (EMS) and chemical management systems (CMS).
In fiscal 2008, we will request our suppliers to set numerical targets for CO2 reduction and support those activities.
Suppliers' Activity Areas and Bases
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History of Green Procurement
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Activities |
| 1998 |
Started supporting the establishment of environmental management systems (EMS) at suppliers |
| 2001 |
Started a survey on environmental impact information (survey on chemical substances contained in products) |
| 2002 |
Commenced Ricoh Group's efforts toward the total elimination of environmentally-sensitive substances/Established Ricoh Group's green procurement policy |
| 2003 |
Completed environmental management systems (EMS) at 1,089 suppliers throughout the world |
| 2004 |
Issued Chemical management system guidelines for suppliers |
| 2005 |
Commenced educational activities for CO2 reduction at suppliers |
| 2006 |
Completed chemical management systems (CMS) at 734 suppliers (1,700 sites) throughout the world |
| 2007 |
Started supporting the establishment of chemical management systems (CMS) at second-tier suppliers and subsequent tier suppliers |
| 2008 |
Establish CO2 reduction targets for parts (scheduled) |
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Training CMS Examiners at Suppliers  (Ricoh Group/Global)
To ensure that products do not contain environmentally-sensitive substances, it is necessary to monitor the upstream manufacturing process at every step. Targeting employees at our first-tier suppliers, the Ricoh Group trains and certifies CMS examiners. Specifically, those who complete the Ricoh Group's ISO14001 internal auditor training (qualified persons are exempt) and CMS examiner training will be recognized as CMS examiners. In addition to internal audits of their own companies, recognized examiners will conduct audits at second-tier and subsequent tier suppliers that deal with important processes involving environmentally-sensitive substances and work to establish chemical management systems. As of the end of March 2007, the number of CMS examiners at our suppliers was 629.
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Chemical Substance Control of Supplies (Ricoh Group/Global)
Various chemical substances are used in supplies, including toner and developer. Based on the belief that "product safety is a basic condition for customer satisfaction," the Ricoh Group ensures the safety of its supplies through the appropriate chemical substance control. We use an information system called RECSIS*1 to evaluate safety.
Depending on the type of product, we set items for which safety should be confirmed, create MSDS*2, evaluate new chemical substances, check on the method of disposal, consult the relevant laws and regulations, and prepare safety specification data for products. In fiscal 2006, we upgraded the system. The new system can make automatic safety judgments by referring to the laws and regulations of different countries and Ricoh standards for the chemical substances contained in supplies.
From fiscal 2007, we will use this system's database of raw materials to satisfy the REACH Regulation (registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals).
*1 |
Ricoh Environmental & Chemical Safety Information System |
| *2 |
Material Safety Data Sheet |
Safety Evaluation System for Supplies
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Reduction in Environmentally-Sensitive Substances Generated While in Use  (Ricoh/Japan)
Ricoh establishes its own standards on chemical emissions* generated by products while in use and endeavors to reduce them. Chemical substances emitted by products like copiers and printers are measured at the emission-measuring testing laboratory located within the company. Ricoh is certificated as an official testing laboratory by Germany's BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prufüng; Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing), and measurement data from Ricoh's testing laboratory will be recognized in registering for the Blue Angel, a German environmental label.
* |
Chemical emissions are chemical substances emitted by products and include ozone, dust, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). |
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