Environmental Activities

Reducing Environmental Impact in Every Phase of the Business

Worldwide, steps are being taken to address today’s increasingly serious environmental problems such as progressive global warming, the depletion of energy resources, and threats to biodiversity. Corporations are also expected to engage in environmental activities from a broader perspective.
Recognizing this, Konica Minolta does not limit its environmental efforts to the manufacturing process alone. At every level of its business activities, whether product development, procurement, production, distribution or sales, the Group works to reduce its impact on the environment.

Green Products Certification System

Defining Evaluation Standards for the Environmental Performance of Products, and Promoting the Development of Environmentally Responsible Products

Konica Minolta introduced a product assessment system in 1992 in order to develop and provide environmentally responsible products. To further strengthen this effort, the Group has introduced the Green Products Certification System, a unique system for evaluating products with superior environmental performance that went into full operation in July 2011.
Under this system, standards are set for each of the different businesses and product characteristics, and products which meet these standards are certified at one of three levels. The targets are basically set as early as the product planning stage. Not only must the product meet standards for environmental performance, it must also fulfill requirements such as being produced at a Green Factory certified plant, compliance with environment-related regulations, and management in accordance with the Group’s CSR procurement plan.
The environmental performance of certified products will be made public in product catalogs and websites.

Green Factory Certification System

Adding New Certification Criteria to Enhance Environmental Activities at Production Sites

In January 2010, Konica Minolta launched its unique Green Factory Certification System for comprehensive evaluation of the environmental activities of its production sites. This system has two levels of targets. The Level 1 targets for fiscal 2011 are preliminary goals representing milestones on the way to the Level 2 targets, which are to be achieved by fiscal 2015.
In this system, not only progress against targets but also the implementation process is evaluated. In order to achieve clarity in the evaluation, guidelines have been prepared and a way created to quantify implementation conditions with a score. The guidelines bring together all of Konica Minolta's know-how in environmental measures, and are comprised of approximately 250 implementation items as well as the evaluation standards for each item. The Group uses the guidelines to improve the quality of its activities.

In order to further strengthen environmental activities, Konica Minolta added two new items to the Level 2 criteria in April 2011. One of these requires that sites implement measures to restore and preserve biodiversity, according to guidelines set for management of water resources and wastewater, and proper management of greenery at factory sites. The other requires that sites follow the guidelines set for management of soil contamination risk as one aspect of reducing chemical risks.

*

A single business unit is an organization engaged in the same production activities even across different locations. A single location may include several business units.

Bold：Newly added items

*1

Per unit of production: Environmental impact in terms of production output or production volume. Each business unit selects the measure that enables its productivity versus CO₂ emissions to be evaluated appropriately.

*2

Waste discharged externally: Volume discharged outside Konica Minolta sites, obtained by subtracting the internally recycled and reduced volumes from the total waste generated in production processes.

*3

Petroleum-based resources waste: Volume of petroleum-based out of total volume of waste discharged externally.

*4

The guidelines have a 4- point evaluation benchmark ranging from 0 to 3 points for each implemented item and a standard score which serves as the performance target. The achievement rate refers to the percentage of items that meet the standard score relative to all items.

*5

The base year is scal 2005. Based on this numerical value, standards tailored to factory characteristics are established. However, in the event that there is a significant change to production items or production conditions due to business reorganization, the base year may be revised according to the Group's internal regulation.

• Guidelines for managing soil contamination risk
• Guidelines for Biodiversity Preservation

Units achieved certification in fiscal 2010

In fiscal 2010, out of 23 business units, 12 units achieved Level 1 (11 in Japan and one in China).

*

(Global warming): Preventing global warming; (Recycling): Supporting a recycling-oriented society; (Chemical): Reducing the risk of chemical substances