Sustainability : Konica Minolta’s EU Approach

Konica Minolta receives the highest level in EcoVadis Sustainability ratings and is selected for the leaderboard of CDP’s supplier engagement rating

Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a PLATINUM Level Recognition Medal in the EcoVadis sustainability ratings issued by EcoVadis of France for its corporate responsibility practices. This is the highest level that can be achieved – only 1% of the participating companies were awarded this accolade. Konica Minolta has also been selected for the 2020 CDP Supplier Engagement Leaderboard in the Supplier Engagement Rating by CDP, an international non-profit organisation working to achieve a sustainable economy. These high accolades reflect Konica Minolta’s continuous dedication to sustainability and social responsibility.

About the EcoVadis sustainability report

EcoVadis operates an international platform to assess the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of suppliers in terms of the environment, labour practices, ethics and sustainable procurement. The rating process is based on scorecards for each participating company that cover 21 CSR indicators, 190 commodities and 150 countries. The evaluation environment is built on the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact and the ISO 26000, which take environment, social, ethics and supply chain into account.

About the Leaderboard of CDP’s Supplier Engagement Rating

Konica Minolta’s Green Supplier Activities

For several years, Konica Minolta has been promoting Green Supplier Activities to provide suppliers with the expertise to reduce their environmental impact while also reducing costs. This approach was derived from its own manufacturing sites within the Green Factory certification system. Many suppliers were already able to achieve their Green Supplier activity targets, which are equivalent to the level of the Green Factory Certification Standards. For example, Konica Minolta employees visited suppliers’ plants to conduct energy conservation diagnoses and help suppliers implement measures, increasingly using an energy-saving diagnostic tool based on the digitalised expertise of energy-saving experts to do so. Since fiscal year 2020, these activities have been further upgraded as the DX-Green Supplier Activities. Konica Minolta will work with many more suppliers to rapidly expand the efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions and costs throughout the supply chain and to foster a system and culture that values environmental management.

Sustainability News: Counteracting global climate change

As part of the 50 Climate Leaders, Konica Minolta are acting as a community to combat global climate Change.  Companies worldwide are realising their crucial role in achieving social and environmental goals, particularly in combating climate change.

As part of their sustainability strategy Konica Minolta participates in the 50 Climate Leaders. This initiative from the private sector united in order to show commitment to the economic landscape and to act as a community in counteracting global climate change.

In September 2020, Konica Minolta joined a summit of the 50 Climate Leaders, moderated by the United Nations. Participating in a group of ambitious companies creates a mutually encouraging environment and enables knowledge transfer on a global level, making a huge audience aware of the topic as well.

To tackle global sustainability challenges and bring benefits to its customers, Konica Minolta’s sustainability approach comprises five material topics.

1:- Corporate Sustainability

Konica Minolta has a clear commitment to sustainability with its Corporate Philosophy “The Creation of New Value”. This means that the company not only creates economic value but also social value through innovation – for the business and the people – and ultimately for a sustainable world.

Konica Minolta’s sustainable strategy entails the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are the world’s best plan to build a better world for people and our planet by 2030. They address the global challenges we face, like e.g. poverty, inequality, climate, biodiversity, peace and justice.

2:- Climate Action

Offsetting unavoidable CO₂ emissions with the Enabling Carbon Neutrality program

With its Enabling Carbon Neutrality program, Konica Minolta offers its customers an all-in-one carbon emissions offsetting service for carbon neutral printing. This service provides office environments and providers of professional print products with an easy way to offset carbon emissions that occur during the printing process. To compensate for carbon emissions, Konica Minolta entered into a collaboration with the international climate protection expert ClimatePartner in 2015. So far, customers from eleven countries have already joined this effort, offsetting more than 10 million kilogrammes of CO₂. Customers receive an emissions certificate stating the amount of CO₂ emissions saved. The Enabling Carbon Neutrality program enables customers to meet their environmental targets: reducing their carbon footprint, demonstrating their commitment to climate protection and improving their corporate image.

3:- Circular Economy

Collect and recycle consumables

Konica Minolta is operating the “Clean Planet Program”. It entails a simple and yet sophisticated recycling solution for the consumables of its office and production printing systems in selected countries.

Konica Minolta’s office devices are built for long-life and have a recyclable design, a requirement of the strict environmental label “Blue Angel” that nearly all of its office devices have been awarded with. The devices will be reused after their first use-cycle for another four or five years and sometimes even longer.

Konica Minolta’s office and professional printing devices can be programmed specifically to ensure they use resources responsibly. So, customers benefit from reduced waste and improve their environmental impact.

4:- Diversity & Human Well-being

Clean air in the office: Indoor Air Quality

Konica Minolta is committed to actively improving the working environment of its customers and creating space for them to focus on their core competencies. As a measure of the cleanliness of air within offices and its potential impact on the personal health and comfort of those using the space, Indoor Air Quality is a service to improve the  level of health and well-being overall. The company collaborates with a wide range of reliable and competent project partners to provide dedicated filter devices for different office systems, ensuring high emissions reduction while maintaining airflow in the devices involved. Filter solutions, measured by Blue Angel certifications, reduce copier particle emissions by up to 98%. Thus, customers can improve their indoor air quality, a key factor in the levels of health, comfort and productivity of staff.

Find out more on Indoor Air Quality

5:- Digital Responsibility

We live in one of the most prosperous times in human history. At the same time, humanity faces massive challenges and changes due to digitilisation, because digitilisation changes the way we live and work. Climate change, massive pollution, dying species, migration are just some of our global sustainable challenges. But our changing environment and sustainable challenges can be influenced and shaped by us. Here, corporations play a central role. Konica Minolta acknowledges its responsibility and actively shapes it within its corporate digital responsibility.

Konica Minolta focuses on four key actions fields around corporate digital responsibility:

🖱 Data responsibility: Going beyond legal requirements

🖱 Social innovation: For a social betterment

🖱 Digital pollution: Minimising the quantity

🖱 Accessibility & digital inclusion: Digital technologies for everyone

You need to consider when purchasing printers, the level of certification they have in order to enable you to be sustainable. These include the Energy Star rating, which is the International standard for energy-efficient consumer products.

Blue Angel, A reliable guide to environmentally safe purchasing and EPEAT, which is an Environmental criteria covering the complete product lifecycle. Konica Minolta is the first company worldwide to receive the Blue Angel mark in the field of copying.

Konica Minolta was first in the industry to introduce recycled plastics in printers. P.E.T. , or polyethylene terephthalate from PET bottles is available in a relatively stable supply. In 2013, recycled materials made up 40% of total plastic in the bodies of Konica Minolta devices.

Today, it is up to 72% and represents the largest amount worldwide in the industry.

Konica Minolta’s toner bottles are made of recycled high density polyethylene, that are made from empty milk bottles.  Konica Minolta developed their own recycling method in its toner production factories in Mexico and Malaysia. While reducing harmful chemicals in their toner, making it 100% harmless for food contact.

Sustainable Printing seems like an Oxymoron

Printing, by definition, requires resources that aren’t traditionally environmentally friendly.
Despite many business owners’ best intentions, the paperless office never really eventuated. While we’ve certainly reduced the amount of paper we use in the workplace, printing remains an unavoidable part of doing business.
If you’re looking to minimise your environmental impact, you may worry about the cost of printing from energy usage to paper and ink usage. Sustainable printing and paper is possible.

How to achieve sustainable Eco Friendly Printing

There are three key steps you can take to achieve sustainable Eco Friendly printing:

1. 1. Choose recycled paper.2. Select a printer with strong environmental credentials.

   3. Implement strong print governance and culture around sustainable printing.

Recycled Paper v’s Virgin Paper

100 per cent recycled paper uses zero trees, 33 per cent less energy, releases 37 per cent less greenhouse gases, almost halves the amount of wastewater involved in the process and uses 39 per cent less solid waste. So it’s the right choice for a business that wants to be environmentally smart.

In the old days, you could pick recycled paper from virgin paper based on quality alone. However, the quality has improved markedly and, now, it’s hard to tell the difference between recycled and non-recycled paper.

Recycled paper should be at least 30 per cent recycled but 100 per cent recycled paper is the best option because it uses less bleaching than conventional paper and reduces the use of toxic chemicals. Recycled paper incorporates full-cycle production costs, which takes responsibility for the entire lifecycle of the paper. You should do due diligence to ensure you’re choosing products produced by companies that are environmentally sustainable with a low carbon footprint.

To have the greatest environmental impact, you should choose the most environmental option within the grade of paper that you plan to use. This means you don’t need to compromise on paper quality to meet your environmental objectives.

The importance of good print governance

Setting a culture of environmental sustainability is also important to maximise your team members’ contribution. For example, setting cultural expectations around minimising printing is important. You can also set rules to reduce the amount of paper and resources used. For example, mandating that team members print documents double-sided can reduce the amount of paper that gets wasted.

Pull printing is another way to reduce the amount of wasted paper. Requiring users to input a code or swipe a card at the printer before their document will print out eliminates the chance that they’ll print a document and then forget about it. When that happens, usually the user reprints it or colleagues eventually throw it away; either way, the paper is wasted.

Reduce your environmental impact with security software

“We are planning proactive efforts to become a top-tier company worldwide in the areas of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.”

Shoei Yamana, President & CEO of Konica Minolta, Inc.

For information on sustainability please contact one of our 9 nationwide branches or book a consultation