Ricoh Joins EPEAT Imaging Equipment Program to Promote Green Purchasing

—Rigorous Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings help simplify office equipment purchasing decisions for organizations that value sustainability —

TOKYO, Feb. 13, 2013 — Ricoh today detailed its participation in the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) program, the definitive global registry for greener electronics (www.epeat.net/). For the past three years, Ricoh has worked with EPEAT and other stakeholders to develop 59 definitive environmental criteria for Imaging Equipment. Today, the EPEAT registry expanded to include devices such as printers, copiers, multi-function products and other equipment.

EPEAT is a comprehensive green purchasing standard based upon environmental design attributes, such as, energy efficiency, recycled and recyclable materials, product longevity, packaging, and environmental programs a manufacturer has in place. EPEAT provides purchasers the capability to easily compare environmental performance and practices of various manufacturers in a standardized format.

As of today, Ricoh has 18 Gold, 43 Silver, and 1 Bronze-rated products in the United States with many more products to come ^(*1), exemplifying its commitment to global leadership in environmental sustainability and the partnership with its customers.

"I applaud Ricoh for registering such a diverse range of products in EPEAT's new Imaging Equipment category," said Robert Frisbee, EPEAT CEO. "Ricoh's proactive decision to embrace the EPEAT standards shows their commitment to environmental excellence across their product lines."

Ricoh has earned environmental labels in every region of the world, such as the Blue Angel mark (Germany) and the Eco-Mark (Japan) offering its customers environmentally certified products. The EPEAT is regarded as one of the indispensable evaluations not only to satisfy the requirements for supply of the U.S. federal government, but also to offer environmentally satisfactory products globally.

(*1) For the most recent list of Ricoh's EPEAT-rated products, please visit http://ww2.epeat.net/searchoptions.aspx

EPEAT's impact
To be added to the EPEAT Bronze registry, an imaging device must meet at least 33 required environmental performance criteria. Products may achieve higher Silver and Gold ratings by meeting up to 26 additional optional criteria. The rating criteria were developed during a four-year stakeholder consensus process that involved hundreds of representatives from the environmental, research, governmental and manufacturing sectors.

According to EPEAT:

• EPEAT's original PC/Monitor rating system is used as an environmental requirement by eight national governments, including the United States, and thousands of purchasers worldwide. Purchase contracts that require EPEAT registration exceed $65 billion. More than 50 manufacturers have registered their "greener" PCs, monitors, copiers, printers and scanners in more than 40 countries. More than 533 million EPEAT-registered products have been purchased since the original registry debuted in July 2006.
• Since 2006, purchasers choosing EPEAT-registered electronics over products that don't meet the system's criteria have eliminated greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 11 million U.S. vehicles' annual impact, avoided more than 394,000 metric tons of hazardous waste and reduced solid waste by nearly 167,000 metric tons ? equivalent to nearly 86,000 U.S. households' annual waste.

Link to relevant information

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