Resource Circulation

Policy/Basic Concept

The depletion of resources due to population growth globally and the issues of marine plastic waste have focused people's attention on the “Circular Economy.” Companies are now expected to work with stakeholders to promote transformation to a business model that does not depend on resource consumption.

The Ricoh Group's concept of a sustainable society is expressed in the “Three Ps Balance,” which describes a society that maintains a balance among the three Ps: economy (Prosperity), society (People), and the global environment (Planet).

Three Ps Balance

Under the Ricoh Group Environmental Declaration, “We proactively reduce environmental impact and strive to improve the Earth’s self-recovery capabilities to achieve a zero-carbon society and a circular economy through business.” We have also positioned the realization of a circular economy as one of the materiality features in the global environment field and set medium- to long-term targets, which the entire group is working toward.

The Ricoh Group established the Comet Circle™ in 1994 as a concept to achieve a circular economy. Based on the concept of the Comet Circle, we have been promoting the reduction of environmental impact throughout the entire life cycle of our products. In consideration of the recent social circumstances, we have established the “Resource Conservation Policy” and “Plastics Policy” to promote more specific initiatives.

The Comet Circle

Resource Conservation Policy

Promote the efficient use and circulation of natural resources.
Offer reused products and promote proactive use of sustainable resources with low environmental impact.

Ricoh Group Plastic Policy for Products

Ricoh group has set targets and goals for plastic usage of our products and packaging under consideration of social issues such as “Shifting to a circular economy,” and “Tackling ocean micro-plastic pollution”

Breakaway from dependence on virgin plastic derived from fossil resources
Material recyclable design

For details of Ricoh's circular economy activities, please refer to the Ricoh Group Environmental Report

Ricoh Group Environmental Report.

Structures/Systems

To continuously discuss mid- to long-term issues of the Ricoh Group in the areas of environment, society, and governance at the management level, the ESG Committee, chaired by the CEO, was established in May 2018. The committee meets once every quarter with the participation of Senior Management to discuss the status of initiatives, issues, and investment decisions related to ESG themes, such as zero carbonization, as important themes for management. Its deliberations are regularly reported to the Board of Directors, which then supervises the execution of ESG activities at a high level.

In 2020, in addition to our existing collaboration with procurement, design, production, QA, and sales, we established and activated a cross-functional working group with the participation of members from the ESG department to create a mechanism to integrate indicators and measures into our business and product strategies in line with our environmental targets (in resource conservation).
To achieve a circular economy, we will continue to promote activities that integrate management level and on-site activities in order to accelerate actions such as the reduction of new resource use in products, substitution and reduction of virgin plastic derived from fossil resources, and effective use of used products.

Furthermore, we are promoting collection, reuse, and recycling initiatives globally at our own sites in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and China. Each Group company has established criteria for selecting industrial waste disposal companies (ISO 14001, 9001, R2, e-Stewards certification, etc.) in accordance with the circumstances of each country, and company manages waste to ensure that it is handled reliably and appropriately by a reliable partner.

Targets and Performance

Reduction of virgin material of products

The Ricoh Group is promoting thorough resource conservation activities and active utilization of recycled materials with the aim of reducing Virgin material usage ratio of products to 12% or less by 2050.

Ricoh Group environmental goals (resource conservation)

Goals for 2030

●Virgin material usage ratio of products^*1: 60% or less

Goals for 2050

●Virgin material usage ratio of products^*1: 12% or or less^*2

*1 Virgin material usage ratio is the usage rate of new resource inputs to total resource inputs of products.

*2 Quoted from the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) publication
The resource conservation target is set based on the idea that In order to use sustainable resources, it is necessary to reduce the
total amount of resources used to 1/8 compared to 2000 level.

Performance

	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024
Virgin material usage ratio of products	87.9%	84.9%	78.9%	78.3%
Amount of virgin materials used in products (kt)	70.9	79.5	61.6	66.8

Product scope：MFPs, Printers and Digital Duplicators

Ricoh Group Plastic Policy for Products

Ricoh group has set targets and goals for plastic usage of our products and packaging under consideration of social issues such as “Shifting to a circular economy” and “Tackling ocean micro-plastic pollution”

Goals for plastic

Use of post-consumer recycled plastics for imaging products Goals for 2030: Post-consumer recycled plastic content ratio of 50% or more
Reduction in packaging materials for virgin plastic derived from fossil resources Goals for 2030: 50% or more reduction compared to 2020 level.
Display resin identification code and single material use Goals for 2025: Clearly indicated on all parts and all packaging materials

performance	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	Supplementary explanation for actual performance
Use of post-consumer recycled plastics for imaging products	8.6%	16.2%	32.1%	32.3%	We are currently incorporating recycled plastics into our main units and supply products in line with our roadmap. *Includes reused plastic parts
Reduction in packaging materials for virgin plastic derived from fossil resources	+5.1%^*	+5.3%^*	-26.6%	-20.5%	We are systematically reducing the amount of plastic packaging used for imaging equipment, supplies, etc.

^*The“ fossil resource-derived virgin plastic” reduction figures for product packaging in fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 have been amended due to expansion of the scope of calculation from fiscal 2023 (June 2024).

In 2021, material labeling and the use of mono-materials was reflected in the Design Policy for End of Life, and codified rules. We expect to complete material labeling and use of mono-materials in 2025, in line with our target.