Why you should care about improving your operational sustainability
27 May 2024: By Mark Hinder, Responsible for Business Development EMEA, Ricoh Graphic Communications, Ricoh Europe writes about improving your operational sustainability.
At Ricoh, we believe that all our actions should balance People, Prosperity, and Planet – to help us create a more sustainable society, economy, and environment together. It is why we have developed, and continue to evolve our resources, technology, and people, to help you enhance the sustainable approach of your operation. We do this by supporting you in:
Understanding the sustainability of your business
First consider what you want to achieve and review the way you are currently working. If your focus is the climate, measure your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and ways to understand your wider environmental impact so you can set a benchmark for carbon neutrality/net zero goals. You can also investigate a sustainability audit, materiality assessment and an employee survey to understand your social impact (e.g., employee wellbeing, community engagement) and governance (e.g., ensuring integrity and ethics within the running of the business).
Setting targets
After setting a benchmark with your current sustainability status, you can agree targets by identifying improvements that can be made. You could also explore accreditations and certifications such as ISO 14001 and World Fair Trade Organization that reflect your business strategy and respond to client, partner, and employee expectations. This could also help with ways to meet the requirements of the UN’s SDGs.
Implementing fresh practices
There are a number of technologies and solutions can help shape more sustainable operations. There is developing supply chain best practices ranging from collaborating with suppliers who are committed to achieving net zero targets, designing sustainably, and creating a zero waste to landfill strategy, to specifying consumables that are responsibly sourced, industry accredited such as FSC certified substrates, and fully recyclable. Among Ricoh’s developments in this area is PLAiR Foaming Technology. It turns PLA (polylactic acid) – a plant-based compostable plastic material made from plant sugars – into foam. This is historically a challenging and costly process. The innovation has led to the creation of lightweight, easily moulded, PLAiR sheets that conserve resources and provide thermal insulation. Suitable applications include food containers and packaging.
Operations could also review ways to improve production efficiency and reduce emissions by investing in digital printing technology. In fact, Ricoh research has found emissions from the production of A4 3,000 double sided flyers on the RICOH Pro™ C9500 digital colour sheetfed press, that are then transported 10km from the printing base, are 72.54% lower than an analogue sheetfed press. Emissions for the same job on a RICOH ProTM C7500 digital colour sheetfed press are 77.68% lower than an analogue sheetfed press. Emissions from the RICOH Pro™ VC70000 high speed webfed inkjet press, printing 100 x 120pp books at one site, are 77.68% lower than an analogue sheetfed press.
Measuring progress
Measurement is essential in tracking progress. By understanding the sustainability of your business, you are already on track for reporting progress moving forward. Ricoh can support your creation of a carbon balanced approach to printing by helping you analyse your current carbon emissions, optimise your carbon footprint, and neutralise your unavoidable emissions.
Incorporating sustainability into operational strategies is something Ricoh has been committed to for decades. In 1994 we established the Comet Circle to contribute to the development of a sustainable society. Today, we are working towards net zero emissions by 2050. By 2030 we are aiming for 50% of our electricity usage to come from renewable sources and for the use of 100% renewable electricity at all major sites. Water conservation and reducing the use of hazardous materials is a focus across manufacturing sites, too. Our printer remanufacturing service uses fewer resources, energy, and raw materials and allows us to recycle, reuse, and reduce all in one process.
Our latest technology developments are co-innovated to reduce energy consumption, maximise production uptime and elevate efficiency. For example, webfed and sheetfed digital presses such as the RICOH Pro™ VC80000 , the Pro C9500 and the Pro C7500 enable short run versioning and the production of creative personalised print. This reduces waste, aids minimum orders, and enables just in time delivery. New too, is the RICOH Auto Color Adjuster that makes quick and accurate work of colour reproduction from system to system, and job to job.
Then there is our own developed software that is continuously improved in response to client feedback. It efficiently plans jobs to support high productivity and cut waste, such as with substrates and inks. We also share expert information on sustainability practices through our Business Booster consultancy.
These approaches, and others, are why Ricoh has received recognition from multiple independent third party organisations. For example, we were recently awarded a Gold rating from EcoVadis, placing Ricoh among the top 5% of companies assessed for the tenth consecutive year. We were also named, for the fourth consecutive time, as one of the Supplier Engagement Leaders by CDP.
Join us next week at drupa where our teams will be on hand to support you in building a plan for sustainable production that helps meet not only new legislative measures but goes further – to realise that we can live in a circular economy.
https://www.ricoh-europe.com/news-events/events/drupa-2024/
