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- Achievement of a Zero-Carbon Society
- Initiatives for realizing Zero-Carbon Society
Initiatives for realizing Zero-Carbon Society
Decarbonization in our business activities
Initiatives for Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction
【Active and effective use of renewable energy】
Signing of VPPA and strengthening of adoption of renewable energy, with focus on supplementary potential
- Ricoh signed its first virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with KAMISATO KENSETSU, Inc. to promote the adoption of renewable energy. A VPPA provides a means for a user to virtually procure only the environmental value of renewable electricity generated from exclusive power plants built off-premise from the user. In Japan, it is a new form of renewable energy adoption that began in 2022.
- Since joining RE100 initiative, the Ricoh Group has worked to expand the use of renewable energy with supplementary potential through means such as on-site physical PPAs. Through the new VPPA, we aim to strengthen this supplementary potential to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy. The amount of renewable energy covered by the VPPA is about 2.24 GWh per year, corresponding to about 0.5% of the electricity consumption of the Ricoh Group (FY2022).
Promote implementation of on-site PPA* model at production sites
- In fiscal 2021, on-site PPA was introduced at Ricoh (Thailand) Ltd., Ricoh Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd., Ricoh (Thailand) Ltd.,Ricoh Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd., Ricoh Elemex Corporation, and Ricoh Industries, Ltd.
- The total amount of electricity generated by these six sites, including those already installed, was 5.88 GWh/year (CO2 reduction effect: approx. 3,235 tons/year), which is equivalent to approx. 1.3% of the total electricity consumption of the entire Group.
- The cost reduction effect of Ricoh Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd. was approximately 180 million yen over 12 years.
- RICOH ELEMEX, which started its operation in October 2021, is the first on-site PPA facility in Japan for the Ricoh Group.
* Abbreviation for Power Purchase Agreement: The on-site PPA model is a form of contract in which a power generation company installs power generation units on the site or roof of their customers, and the customer purchases the renewable electricity without purchasing the units.
Implementation of 100% renewable energy at A3 Multifunction Printer production sites worldwide
- Since 2019, all power used for the assembly and production of A3 multifunction devices at all our global production sites (equivalent to 37 GWh) has been 100% renewable.
- Plants in China and Thailand are realized with the renewable energy certificate I-REC, and sites in Japan are recognized through Non-fossil certificate and renewable energy power menus.
Introduction of Comprehensive Evaluation System for Renewable Electricity
- In addition to its competitive price, we comprehensively evaluate the fact that it is an additional power source that promotes new development, that the environmental burden is lower, and that it is a power plant funded by the local community.
- At a site where it is decided to procure renewable electricity in Japan, we select an electricity supplier using this system. By utilizing this system, Ricoh has converted 100% of the electricity used at its Head Office (Ota-ku, Tokyo) to renewable electricity from fiscal 2021 (CO2 reduction effect: 2,000 tons/year; Renewable electricity: 4.3 GWh/year).
Evaluation items |
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| Price | High score for cost effectiveness |
| Additionality | High score for newer power plants |
| Renewable energy type | High score for low environmental impact |
| Proximity | High score if power plant and purchasing office are close to each other |
| Power configuration | High score if the electricity itself is renewable energy |
| Evaluation of retail contractors | Points are awarded for the most recent CDP climate change score of A- or higher |
| Evaluation of power generators | Points are awarded for the most recent CDP climate change score of A- or higher |
| Local investment ratio | High score for high local investment ratio |
| Other local contributions | Qualitative evaluation of local donations, job creation, etc. |
Expansion of renewable energies usage at sites
- Ricoh Europe is promoting the use of offices where renewable energy is available. More than 90% of the electricity used in our offices, excluding factories, is powered by renewable energy.
- Ricoh Latin America HQ and thirteen sales companies have switched all of their electricity to renewable.
【Thorough development of energy saving and Fuel Conversion】
Installation of Waste Heat Recovery Heat Pumps at Production Sites
- In February 2022, waste heat recovery heat pumps were installed at the South Plant of the Numazu Plant.
- The waste heat being released into the atmosphere from the chiller/refrigerator cooling tower on the rooftop of Plant No. 8 in Numazu Plant will be used to generate hot water at 65°C, which is used in the dissolving process. By reducing the amount of steam consumption by approximately 60% (estimated value), both cost and CO2 emissions reduction (up to 540 tons/year) can be achieved. The ROI is approximately 5 years
- While promoting Scope 2 reductions by switching to renewable electricity, we are also tackling Scope 1 issues such as the use of steam, on which reductions are difficult to achieve
Establishment of global standard for promoting sustainable real estate
In 2023, Ricoh Group Global Corporate Real Estate Policy set out the items that should be recommended for real estate procurement with consideration for the environment, such as "use of renewable energy" and "buildings with high environmental performance.“
We will continue to use the ISO 20400 framework as a guideline to study the visualization of the current situation and promote the procurement of real estate with consideration for the environment.
Expansion of ZEB Office Buildings and Application to Business Proposals for Customers
- As of April 2023, a total of 12 sites have acquired ZEB Ready certification or higher.
- Ricoh Japan intends to have all new office buildings*1 be at least “ZEB Ready”. Each building will be a showcase for customers, introducing visitors to the company's decarbonization practices.
* 1: Owned by the company/Rented a whole building
Definition of ZEB status and installation examples in Ricoh/ Ricoh Japan (Operation start date)
| ZEB: Buildings that have achieved a 100% or greater reduction in primary energy consumption through energy conservation (50% or greater) + energy creation |
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| Nearly ZEB: Buildings that have achieved a 75% or greater reduction in primary energy consumption through energy conservation (50% or greater) + energy creation |
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| ZEB Ready: Buildings that have achieved a 5% or greater reduction in primary energy consumption through energy conservation (50% or greater) + energy creation |
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*Obtained Nearly ZEB certification in June 2023
Expansion of Environment-friendly buildings
- Ricoh Latin America will be reinforcing the preferable use of LEED certification or equivalent environmentally friendly buildings for the new offices and warehouses. As an example, Ricoh Colombia and Costa Rica has already used the LEED certification offices.
Initiatives for Scope3 emissions reduction
Strengthening of activities to promote the use of life cycle assessments (LCAs)
The Ricoh Group began using LCA in the 1990s, primarily for imaging products. Since the start of the EcoLeaf Type III environmental labeling program in 2002, we have also undertaken quantitative information disclosure on our products. Amid this current, we have placed staff in charge of promoting the use of LCAs in every business unit to strengthen the disclosure and appeal of our quantitative information.
Product Life-cycle Environmental Impact Assessment Technology
Reduction measures in marine transport
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Adoption of eco-shipping using biofuels
In fiscal 2022, we began contracting with the ECO Delivery service of Maersk. From May 2022 to April 2023, biofuel was used in the marine transport of 556 40-foot containers. This reduced CO2 emissions by 77 tons for the extraction, refining, and transport of fuel and 1,270 tons for onboard fuel combustion, for a total reduction of 1,347 tons.
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Improvement of container loading rate
As a measure to control soaring marine freight fares caused by lack of space amid global turmoil in logistics, in fiscal 2022 we undertook activities to improve container loading efficiency. By making changes to packaging design and to mixes of parts, supplies, and products, and by eliminating containers with a loading rate of under 70% (primarily in marine transport bound for Europe and the United States), we reduced the number of containers by over 100, reduced CO2 emissions by about 2,000 tons, and achieved further cost reductions of about ¥200 million.
Energy saving and energy creation businesses
We are working to provide energy-saving products not only our own decarbonization production process, but also to the decarbonization of society.
Development of decarbonization-contributing products
In order to deliver environmentally responsible products to our customers, we are actively acquiring environment labels both in and outside of Japan.
Environmental Labels
We are also promoting environmentally responsible production by operating the Ricoh Sustainable Products Program, which evaluates products based on our own strict standards for energy and resource savings, contamination prevention, user comfort, and ease of use.
Ricoh Sustainable Products Program,
QSU (Quick Start-Up)
In order to save energy, it is important to reduce the power consumption of multifunction devices (copiers) in standby mode which is said to be about 90%*1 of a day. Therefore, an “energy-saving mode” was developed that automatically shifts to a state of reduced power consumption after a certain period of time while the product is in standby mode. QSU (Quick Start-Up) is a technology that enables a multifunction printer to be used quickly from the energy-saving mode (sleep mode). The time required for startup depends on the speed at which the once cooled fixing roller is heated to the required temperature.Today, the time required to recover from sleep mode has been significantly reduced, and we have achieved the industry's highest level of energy savings in terms of standard power consumption (TEC value) *2.
* 1: Assume that 40 MFDs will operate 20 days in an office that outputs 50,000 copies per month
* 2: Value based on the measurement method specified in the International Energy Star Program
Comprehensive support to reduce energy usage and waste in printing
Ricoh Europe PLC (RE), our European sales headquarters, is offering a Sustainability Optimization Program (SOP) that visualizes the environmental impact and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) associated with the printing environments of Ricoh customers. RE also monitors the effects of Ricoh services after implementation so that we can provide support for continuous improvements.
The SOP process first analyzes a customer’s printing environment in detail and makes the costs and environmental footprint visible. It then suggests the optimal equipment arrangement and helps set specific goals for reducing the environmental impact.
After implementation, RE supports the customer to promote employee education and awareness on sustainability through collaborative activities that raise the environmental cognizance of everyone at the company. RE also provides training to help the customer make the most of our products’ energy-saving modes, double-sided printing and other functions. And by monitoring variances in goals and actual figures, the SOP program runs and manages the system toward continuous improvements.
In addition, the process offers Carbon Balanced Printing to further contribute to a reduction in the customer’s environmental impact.
Energy saving and energy creation businesses
As the trend toward decarbonization accelerates, we offer decarbonization solutions to our customers in Japan in terms of “reducing”, “choosing”, “generating”, and “supplying” energy. We are promoting energy-saving and energy-creation related businesses, such as O&M (operation & maintenance) of customers’ solar power generation facilities, maintenance of EV charging facilities, and the lighting and air conditioning control systems, utilizing the monitoring services we have nurtured in the field of IT/networking equipment.