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Environmental Impact (Eco Balance & LCA)
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Identifying the environmental impact of business activities as a whole and translating it into numerical figures to be used in planning an environmental action plan
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The figure on the right shows the Eco Balance* of the Ricoh Group's business activities as a whole by calculating the environmental impact and monetary value of each process based on data collected from the environmental management information system.
All kinds of business activity-related environmental impact, including global warming, ozone layer destruction, and ecosystem damages, are identified and translated into numerical figures using the integrated analysis method. Ricoh began identifying the environmental impact of its business activities in fiscal 1999 under this method.
It was discovered that upstream activities (manufacturing of materials and parts), chemical substances contained in products, and paper consumed by customers had significantly high envi-ronmental impact. To develop more-effective environmental conservation activities, the Ricoh Group will reduce its environmental impact, especially in the three processes listed above, and is planning to carry out drastic measures in processes other than the three listed above.
A new environmental action plan to be put into effect from fiscal 2002 is to be drawn up based on data obtained from the integrated analysis method.
*Eco Balance is a system that involves the listing of environmental impact input/output data to identify, quantitatively measure, and report the environmental impact of companies.
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Conducting LCA* research to identify a product's environmental impact and disclosing the relevant information to customers
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To manufacture products with less environmental impact, it is important to identify the environmental impact that products cause throughout their life cycles. It is also important to disclose LCA information to help more customers use products with less environmental impact. Ricoh uses the LCA method to identify the environmental impact of its products and verifies environmental improvement measures by modifying the design and manufacturing processes. LCA is therefore useful in promoting sustainable management.
The product LCA information (Type III environmental information) is disclosed at this website.
*LCA is a means of quantitatively determining the level of environmental impact generated throughout a product's life cycle, from resource procurement through manufacturing, transportation, use, maintenance, recovery, recycling, to disposal. Even a partial level of impact can be used.
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