Addressing Climate Change
Konica Minolta's Approach
Key Measures
To achieve Carbon Minus status, it is necessary to accelerate both the reduction of CO2 emissions in the product lifecycle, which is the manufacturer’s responsibility, and the contribution to CO2 emissions reduction by its customers and business partners, which is outside the scope of the company’s responsibility.
Konica Minolta believes that the use of digital transformation (DX) can dramatically reduce CO2 emissions from both sources.
In-House Initiatives
1. Green Factory Activities
We have been conducting Green Factory activities for more than 10 years. In the Sustainable Factory Certification System, a program conducted during the medium-term business plan from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2022, all major production sites achieved their numerical targets.In addition to accelerating environmental impact and cost reduction efforts that have been promoted so far, the Company will create factories that contribute to sustainable growth by addressing the growing social demand for renewable energy and CSR procurement.
| Raw material production site | Assembly/high load site | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Impact reduction Environmental impact reduction standards to be achieved by Konica Minolta production sites* |
CO2 emissions | 3% reduction annually (9% over 3 years) | 2% reduction annually (6% over 3 years) |
| Discharge volume | 2% reduction annually (6% over 3 years)* | 2% reduction annually (6% over 3 years)* | |
| 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:
|
|
- *
- Targets set for activities to reduce and recycle industrial waste from products that use plastic, including the reduction of plastic waste at major sites in Japan, based on the Plastic Resource Circulation Act enacted in Japan.
2. Expand renewable energy-derived electricity use
Konica Minolta has been promoting the switch to renewable energy sources, mainly at its overseas bases, including five manufacturing sites in China, Malaysia, the U.S. and France, and 70 sales bases in Europe. Ahead of fiscal 2023, Konica Minolta will consider the optimal methods for each region globally, and reinforce its initiatives to expand the procurement of power derived from renewable energy sources.
Initiatives Carried Out with Suppliers
1. Carbon Neutral Partner Activities
In order to collaborate with even more business partners, Konica Minolta began promoting Digital Green Supplier activities in fiscal 2020. The aim is to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions across the entire supply chain by launching Digital Green Supplier activities using digital transformation (DX) technology.
Previously, experts carried out energy diagnostic activities with direct visits to factories; but now, by making these digital, suppliers can carry out all the steps from diagnosis to identification of issues and implementation of measures on their own. This efficient approach means that Konica Minolta can support more suppliers with their environmental activities. Digitalization will allow the company to support more than 10 times more suppliers.
Furthermore, in October 2021, the Group developed the DX Green Supplier Certification System and launched the Carbon Neutral Partner Certification System. It will support the decarbonization of its suppliers by utilizing digital tools to manufacture with as little energy as possible, and by using renewable energy-derived electricity sources.
Initiatives Carried Out with Customers
1. Green Products Activities
The Green Products Certification System was launched in fiscal 2011. With the new System, criteria are established for different businesses and product characteristics with respect to certification standards for environmental issues that Konica Minolta seeks to help solve. Successful products are certified at one of three levels, based on the degree of achievement. Konica Minolta will further reduce the environmental impact for which it is directly responsible by creating solutions that solve society’s environmental issues through its products and services.
Not only does this system raise the energy conservation of its products and cut CO2 emissions during customer use, it supports customers’ business by providing products and services that transform production processes through the digital on-demand printing of packages, labels, and textiles providing solutions for various industries and promoting customers’ DX, while also helping to reduce environmental impact through process transformation.
Green Products Certification System
2. Environment Digital Platform
In fiscal 2020, Konica Minolta launched the Environment Digital Platform, an ecosystem for environmental management. Konica Minolta and participating companies share and build up their environmental knowledge and expertise and co-create new value, which will enhance environmental management efficiency. This ecosystem will lead to dramatic increases Konica Minolta’s contribution to and effectiveness in reducing environmental impact. The program started with 15 participating companies, and this number had already increased to 84 by the end of April 2023. This unique approach to co-creation is expected to keep expanding, going forward.
