Environmental Principles & Policies

The Comet CircleTM A System for Optimizing Resources The Ricoh Group is helping to build a society that conserves and recirculates resources, reducing the environmental impact of its products and operations. Our goal is to reduce waste in landfills to zero. Our concept for achieving that goal is the Comet CircleTM, which represents a process by which we clarify the amount of environmental impact that occurs at each level of our corporate activities. The closer a recovery process is to the center of the circle, the better it is for the environment. We aim to make the loops of resource recirculation smaller by identifying the optimum recovery point in a product's service life and developing efficient resource recovery systems. The Comet CircleTM concept incorporates four components Promotion of a Multi-tiered Recycling System Repeated recycling to the furthest extent possible reduces new resource consumption and waste generation. Inner Loop Recycling Products of greatest reuse potential are recycled in the inner loops of the Comet Circle to reduce the resource and energy costs necessary to return used products to a state that 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 of our material suppliers, associates and users, as green partners. Together, we endeavor to minimize the environmental impact at every product stage, from materials and parts procurement, to manufacturing, transportation, use, and recovery.