Environmental Principles - Comet Circle.

The Ricoh Group is helping to build a society that re-circulates resources and conducts more efficient manufacturing activities with fewer resources and less environmental impact. Our goal is to reduce waste in landfills to zero. Our concept for achieving that goal is the Comet Circle. It represents a process in which we clarify the amount of environmental impact that occurs at each level of our corporate activities. Then we identify opportunities and implement processes to reduce that impact. We also promote the organization of recycling and repeated recycling while aiming to make the loops of resource re-circulation smaller within the company closer to the core of the Comet Circle.

The Comet Circle concept incorporates four components:

Promotion of a Multi-Tiered Recycling System

Repeated recycling to the furthest extent possible (i.e., multi-tiered recycling) reduces new resource consumption and waste generation.

Inner Loop Recycling

Products of greatest reuse potential are recycled in inner loops of the Comet Circle; to reduce the resource and energy costs necessary to return used products to a state in which it can be used by customers.

Cost-Benefit Recycling

To efficiently recover, disassemble, sort and recycle products, we are making efforts to establish nationwide networks for comprehensive recycling systems, and actively promoting recyclable designs. In addition, we are integrating various kinds of recycling activities for every type of used product.

Environmental Conservation Partnership

We consider all our material suppliers, associates and users, as "green partners". Together we endeavour to minimize the environmental impact at every product stage, from materials and parts procurement, through manufacturing, transportation, use, recovery and recycling.