Konica Minolta looks to develop greener credentials

Konica Minolta, Inc, the Japanese technology company headquartered in Tokyo, is looking to reduce CO2 emissions over product lifecycles by 80% by 2050 (compared with 2005).

One key way Konica Minolta measures progress is through the proportion of sales composed of “Green Products”.

To be certified as a ‘Konica Minolta Green Product’, a product must meet various criteria such as decreased CO2 emissions or the usage of recycled materials.

In 2014/15, 33 new products models were introduced, bringing the total to 147 products across all business areas.

Some of the results referenced in its current CSR report include an astounding 43,000 tons of CO2 reduction during product use.

The company reported 54% of sales in Green Products in total throughout the fiscal year 2014/15 across all business areas. This represents sales of JPY 47.1bn. The significance of Green Products increased in comparison to the previous fiscal year, namely by 13% points.

Green Products play an important role in achieving the next milestone the company has defined: to reduce the CO2 emissions throughout the product life cycle by 40% to 1,216 thousand tons in fiscal year 2016. One example is the development of toner bottles using polyethylene from recycled milk bottles.

For this purpose, Konica Minolta developed its own recycling method and established a mass production system in Mexico and Malaysia. Another example is the development of a recycled Polycarbonate/recycled PET composite material that has the characteristics for use in product casings.

The company intends to increase the proportion of recycled material in the raw material used for toner containers from its current 25% to 100% in the future.

In addition, Konica Minolta contributes through its textile inkjet printers to environmental protection achieving a 62% reduction in water resource usage and a 57% reduction in electricity usage in comparison to conventional textile screen-printing.

Through its second certification system, the Green Factory Certification System – an evaluation of the environmental activities at its production sites since 2010 – six additional units (five in Japan, one in China) achieved a Level 2, the highest scoring. Level 2 is the equivalent to a 20% reduction of CO2 emissions and a 50% reduction of waste discharged externally.