KONICA MINOLTA

About Konica Minolta

Giving Shape to Ideas

Konica Minolta’s Environmental Activities

Production Activities to Solve Environmental Issues
(Green Factory Certification System)

Background and Issues

As environmental problems grow increasingly serious, society requires more efficient use of energy and resources. The reduction of environmental impact in the production process, especially in the manufacturing industry, has a huge effect on reducing the impact of society as a whole, and therefore, it is thought important to achieve large reductions.

Vision

Konica Minolta streamlines production processes, develops and improves production technologies, and takes steps to reduce its environmental impact while cutting costs.

To this end, Konica Minolta is conducting Green Factory activities to reduce the environmental impact of its manufacturing sites, while also pursuing energy conservation, effective use of resources, and the adoption of renewable energy.

Key Measures and KPIs

  • Reduction of environmental impact of Konica Minolta production sites utilizing the company’s own know-how and cutting-edge environmental technologies:
    Sustainable Factory Activities

(Unit: thousand tons) 

KPI Result Target
FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2022 FY2023 FY2024 FY2025
Reduction of CO2 emissions at Konica Minolta production sites  4 12 18 18 6 13 20
Reduction of waste discharge at Konica Minolta production sites  0.6 1.3 1.7 1.7 0.2 0.5 0.8

Note: Cumulative reduction for each period from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2022 and from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2025. Total reduction for each fiscal year due to measures implemented from the first fiscal year of each period to the relevant fiscal year.

Initiatives in Production

Konica Minolta has long promoted green-factory activities at its inhouse production sites to simultaneously reduce its environmental impact and lower costs. The Company has launched a new Green Factory Certification System, which requires that Company production sites meet two standards: environmental impact reduction standards to evaluate energy and resource conservation measures, and guideline standards to evaluate the quality of activities.
In the guideline standards, reflecting recent rising societal demands, the Company has included the expansion of renewable energy and CSR procurement as new indicators. Ensuring that its own production sites meet these two standards, the Company will accelerate its efforts to contribute to the global environment and provide solutions to social issues.

Green Factory Certification Standards*1
  Chemical plant site Assembly/high load site
Environmental Impact reduction
Environmental impact reduction standards to be achieved by Konica Minolta production sites
CO2emissions 3% reduction annually
(9% over 3 years)
2% reduction annually
(6% over 3 years)
Waste discharge 2% reduction annually
(6% over 3 years)*2
2% reduction annually
(6% over 3 years)*2
Guideline
Standards for biodiversity and other initiatives to be pursued by Konica Minolta production sites
Guideline compliance status Complying with guidelines on items such as:
  • VOC reduction
  • Biodiversity (water, soil, marine plastic, etc.)
  • CSR procurement
  • Expanding introduction of renewable energy-derived power, etc.
*1
Targeting major production sites that have a large environmental impact on Konica Minolta and are deemed a priority in the medium-term business plan.
*2
Set as a target that includes the reduction of plastic waste at major sites in Japan as part of activities to reduce and recycle plastic waste from products that use plastic based on the Act on Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics enacted in Japan.

Fiscal 2021 Activity Results

In fiscal 2022, six sites achieved Sustainable Factory Certification Standards: Konica Minolta Chemical Co., Ltd., Konica Minolta Business Technologies (Malaysia), Konica Minolta Supplies Manufacturing France, Konica Minolta Mechatronics Co., Ltd., Performance Materials Business Unit, and Tokyo Site (Hino/Hachioji). All 10 main Konica Minolta production sites meet the Green Factory certification criteria, which launched in fiscal 2020, along with the four sites that already achieved this certification in fiscal 2021. In addition to the above-mentioned standards, the Sustainable Factory Certification System implemented from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2022 included activities to reduce the CO2 emissions of suppliers, customers, and stakeholders in local communities by leveraging the know-how developed at each production site. Due to COVID-19, it was difficult to use the usual onsite visits to identify measures to reduce environmental impact, but Konica Minolta achieved its goals by building a new system for promoting environmental activities employing DX, including tools for energy-saving diagnostics developed by Konica Minolta and remote onsite diagnostics.


Konica Minolta Chemical Co., Ltd.,certified as a Sustainable Factory in September 2022.


Performance Materials Business, certified as a Sustainable Factory in March 2023.


Konica Minolta Mechatronics Co., Ltd., certified as a Sustainable Factory in March 2023.

As a result of these initiatives, in fiscal 2022, CO2 emissions at the production stage were cut by 118 thousand tons, waste substances were reduced by 19 thousand tons, and cost-cutting had a total effect of 7.2 billion yen.


CO2 Emissions Reduction Effect during Production

CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Reduction Effect during Production
*The amount of reduction is calculated by subtracting the actual fiscal 2022 emissions amount from the estimated amount of emissions that would be produced if environmental conservation activities had not been implemented since fiscal 2005.


Waste Reduction Effect during Production

Waste Reduction Effect during Production
*The amount of reduction is calculated by subtracting the actual fiscal 2022 emissions amount from the estimated amount of emissions that would be produced if environmental conservation activities had not been implemented since fiscal 2005.