Ricoh joins WIPO GREEN and provides 83 patented environmental technologies to contribute to solving social issues

TOKYO, March 8, 2021 – Ricoh Company, Ltd. announced today that it has joined WIPO GREENⁱ as a contributing partner. WIPO Green is an international platform, operated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of the United Nations, that connects green technology providers and seekers of eco-friendly technology solutions through its marketplace and network. As a first step, Ricoh will provide 83 of its environmental technology patents covering two fields: dry washing technology (which does not use water or solvents) and waste liquid treatment technology (which uses high-temperature and high-pressure underwater combustion).

Through its participation in WIPO GREEN, Ricoh will actively contribute to solving social issues by making its environmental technologies widely accessible to society and accelerating innovation through co-creation.

Global demand for environmental protection technologies is projected to increase by 6.9% annually, to 5,902 billion euros in 2025ⁱⁱ. When WIPO GREEN was launched in 2013, it was at the vanguard of green technology promotion and dissemination. Since then, it has become a powerful platform in its mission to support and promote innovation in the growing green technology sector. Today, WIPO GREEN continues to accelerate the transition to a greener global economy.

The Ricoh Group has identified seven priority issues (also known as material issues), aligned to 12 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Group aims to resolve these issues through its business activities in order to realize a sustainable society that balances economic, social, and global environmental issues. As part of these efforts, in the field of intellectual property, Ricoh has been working to achieve a balance between business and contributing to society by opening up its patents to start-up companies.

Ricoh has also been working to create value from its intellectual property by disclosing patent information related to its businesses that contribute to solving social issues. Ricoh positions its participation in WIPO GREEN as part of its efforts to solve social issues, such as the realization of a decarbonized society, which will be accelerated with the start of the two-year 20th Mid-Term Management Plan starting in April 2021.

As part of its participation in WIPO GREEN, Ricoh will register the following two groups of patented technologies (83 patents) with a focus on technologies that are considered to be effective for environmental conservation through demonstration tests.

• Industrial wastewater treatment technology by high temperature and high-pressure water oxidation (17 patents):
  Technology to improve the efficiency and durability of high-temperature, high-pressure submerged combustion systems for detoxification treatment of organic industrial wastewater
• Dry washing technology with thin pieces of media (66 patents):
  Dry washing technology that enables the cleaning of adhered soil using media such as resin film instead of solvent or water

Ricoh will continue to provide environment-related patent technologies that contribute to the preservation of the global environment.

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WIPO GREEN is a platform operated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized UN intellectual property organization, to promote the use of environmental technologies.
WIPO aims to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the use of intellectual property.^*
The ultimate goal of WIPO GREEN is to promote a more sustainable world, which is one of the most important partnerships in WIPO to support the SDGs.^**

* 

https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/news/kokusai/green.html

**

https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_greenstrpl1923.pdf

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Source: German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) (2018): GreenTech Made in Germany 2018.

www.bmu.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Pools/Broschueren/greentech_2018_en_bf.pdf