By Eef de Ridder, Vice President, Graphic Communications Group, Ricoh Europe
COP26 and the far reaching discussions on climate change may well have focused the world’s attention on the topic but it was already high on the agenda of European business leaders as new research has found.
In fact, 67% believe corporations have a responsibility to respond proactively to global challenges, according to a Ricoh Europe commissioned poll of 1,500 decision makers conducted by Opinion Matters. The same figure say that their employees care more about how environmentally sustainable the company is now compared to five years ago.
However, all too often, other business needs are perceived to be more urgent, making investment in environmental sustainability a struggle for 56%.
You may well identify with these sentiments – after all, it is hard to think of an industry where day to day, and hour to hour pressures are so great and so unpredictable as production printing. Pausing to consider implementing measures with wide and long term benefits when you’re faced with, for example, the immediate demands of a new business pitch or with an important delivery deadline that is in jeopardy may seem unrealistic.
However, environmental expectations will only grow – from your clients, employees, and other key stakeholders. And the good news is that changes, big or small, can be implemented with the help of knowledgeable partners that can provide relevant advice and guidance. Their own sustainable approach can deliver products and solutions that already incorporate significant environmental considerations while client focused initiatives can help signpost next steps and clarify the options possible.
At Ricoh we have developed our Lean Print Services team offering clients practical solutions to their challenges. Lean Six Sigma practitioners deliver sustainable improvements that help print businesses drive down costs, transform operations and support growth. While our Carbon Balanced Printing Programme, enables operations to analyse, optimise and neutralise their carbon emissions.
Careful consideration goes into our products which are designed to reduce energy consumption while maximising production uptime and efficiency. For example continuous feed and sheet fed digital presses such as the Ricoh ProTM VC70000 and the Ricoh ProTM C7200x are different in scale but both enable short run versioning and the production of creative personalised print. Printing just what is needed when it is needed reduces waste, aids minimum orders, and facilitates just in time delivery. Our software, some of which is cloud-based, efficiently plans jobs to elevate productivity and trim waste, particularly with substrates.
We are always assessing new ways to make reductions and decrease energy. We operate a zero waste to landfill strategy at our manufacturing facility and our Comet Circle model for reusing parts and recycling materials aims to lessen our environmental impact and promote a multi-tiered recycling system.
These initiatives and more makes it no surprise that Ricoh gained The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index recognition for the second consecutive year – this time as the top-scoring company for sustainability in the Computers & Peripherals and Office Electronics industry. Our approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices has also been recognised in the FTSE4Good, FTSE Blossom Japan, and the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Indices.
It is clear there is a gap between companies wanting to make changes and knowing how to successfully achieve them efficiently and affordably.
www.ricoh-europe.com
