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The Environment
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INTRODUCTION
OKI Printing Solutions, a market leader in the global business printer market, manufactures a range of exceptionally fast and high performance machines. Meeting the ever changing needs of businesses requires innovative technology and at OKI Printing Solutions this also goes hand-in-hand with environmental awareness.The company approaches its environmental policy in three ways:
- By creating eco-friendly products
- By contributing to environmental conservation in business activities, such as resource conservation
- By contributing to activities within the local community
CREATING ECO-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS
Green design A holistic approach to green issues is taken when new products are developed. The environmental considerations are automatically integrated into the design, engineering and post-sales care of the product and its consumables.
Product assessment To reduce the environmental impact of a product right from the development phase, OKI Printing Solutions assesses the environmental impact of the product throughout its lifecycle. This includes investigating:
- Energy and resource conservation of the product
- Reduction of chemical substances
OKI Printing Solutions also works to reduce environmental impact of its products by conducting a Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and by running the 'OKI Eco Product Certification Program'
Lifecycle Assessment The Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) Evaluation evaluates environmental effects by quantifying the materials and energy used throughout the lifecycle of a product - from production to disposal. When comparing CO2 emissions, OKI Printing Solutions found that the largest environmental impact is made during customer usage. These insights provided by the LCA are used to inform eco-friendly design and guidance on how to use the product responsibly.
Product assessment reduces the environmental impact of a product by comparing the model being designed with a reference model (ex a previous product), giving consideration to environmental criteria such as energy conservation. The design and evaluation process is repeated until all green criteria are satisfied.
For example, the recently introduced C8800dn is a high speed A3 printer that is small in size and cost but big in productivity and professionalism. Using OKI Printing Solutions' digital LED technology instead of a laser unit means the C8800 is up to 56 percent smaller than other A3 printers - making it the smallest and lightest model in its class - and saving on materials.
Green manufacturing All OKI Printing Solutions' facilities undertake measures to encourage green manufacturing. For instance, at the manufacturing facility in Cumbernauld (Scotland) environmental considerations were included from the outset of the design of the new facility, incorporating temperature regulating systems that take advantage of natural heating and cooling methods. The facility also makes use of natural light where possible and has installed light sensors to eliminate unnecessary use of electricity. When comparing April 2006 to April 2007, the effects of energy saving measures are clear to see. In this time electricity usage fell 34 percent, gas usage was reduced 40 percent and water usage is down 9.9 percent.
A wide range of environmental measures have been implemented in the Cumbernauld facility to achieve efficient and environmentally friendly production across the plant, including a waste segregation policy. These initiatives have reduced the amount of waste going to landfill by an impressive 70 percent.
The plant has also implemented an innovative "closed loop" system of toner transfer into the facility. This not only encourages a significantly cleaner work environment, but it also minimizes any risk of toner escaping for the health and safety of the team.
This holistic approach to factory design has provided environmentally sound solutions that will safeguard the energy performance of the modern manufacturing facility well into the future, whilst also providing a healthy and comfortable working environment for its employees.
Environmental risk management Across the OKI Group as a whole, a number of preventative measures have been implemented to reduce environmental risks. In addition to activities to cut emissions, the company carries out maintenance work on its facilities and conducts emergency spillage containment drills to prevent the pollution of groundwater drainage systems. If environmental incidents occur the procedure is to quickly isolate the cause and implement measures to solve the problem.
Safety management To prevent any negative environmental effects caused by an accident, the entire OKI Group is involved in safety management efforts at its production sites. In addition to daily risk management, head office divisions regularly conduct safety inspections. The inspections cover three fields: the environment; disaster prevention; and health and safety. Inspection teams visit each site to confirm the status of safety management and to ensure fast resolution if they highlight any issues.
Green packaging Packaging can have a significant environmental impact during its production and disposal, so it needs to be well managed. To reduce these environmental impacts OKI Printing Solutions is striving to design eco-friendly packaging and substitute materials for greener alternatives.
Packaging includes everything from cardboard boxes for products, to the wooden pallets that are used during transport. OKI Printing Solutions is investigating the use of 'bare packaging', where products are covered in polythene during transport, minimizing packaging while giving the same protection from dust and scratching as more heavy-weight materials. Additionally, as an alternative to wooden pallets the company is testing pallets made of corrugated cardboard, which are easier to handle and recycle.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION IN BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
The environmental awareness of the OKI Group started with its conservation activities in the 1970's. Since 1997, the Group has been acquiring ISO14001:1996 certification at major production sites and has put in place environmental management systems. In 2004, the OKI Group integrated its ISO14001 certification and in 2005 it completed its transition to ISO14001:2004 - a global environmental management standard for responsible manufacturing.
RoHS Directive - control of substances The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive has been in force since July 2006. The six substances subject to the regulation are lead, hexavalent chromium, cadium, mercury and two types of specific bromic fire retardants (PBB, PBDE). OKI Printing Solutions is promoting the control of substances subject to the RoHS Directive not only in products for the EU market, but also in its products for the rest of Europe, Middle East, Africa, US and Japanese markets.
OKI Printing Solutions has also built a Global RoHS database containing the measurement data and supplier certificates for every component of each model.
OKI Printing Solutions ensures all its suppliers are RoHS compliant. The company is committed to protecting the environment and in addition to RoHS certified suppliers OKI Printing Solutions carries out 'spot checks' to undertake random sampling of components to ensure and maintain ongoing compliance.
Elimination of lead in printed circuit boards Since 1998, OKI Electric has been developing technology to eliminate lead in printed circuit boards. All printed circuit boards for new products made in Japan now use lead-free soldering. The company has also been promoting the evaluation of lead-free soldering with overseas vendors and has started mass production.
Chromium free steel sheets The chromium coating of zinc-plated steel sheets contains very small quantities of hexavalent chromium - a substance subject to the RoHS Directive - to improve antirust performance. In Japan, the OKI Group has completed the substitution of these steel sheets with sheets that are free of hexavalent chromium, but still offer superior anti-rust performance.
Screws free of hexavalent chromium All screws used in OKI Printing Solutions' products are now free from hexavalent chromium. Precision equipment such as ATMs, one of the OKI Group's major products, contains screws which need to be tightened to specific torques with high accuracy. The OKI Group evaluated trivalent chromium screws as substitutes and defined the specifications for the torque to which the screws must be tightened. The company also trained its workers who assemble the products to respond to the new characteristics.
OKI printers reduce air pollution As a corporation and manufacturer, OKI Data is committed to careful stewardship of environmental resources. Most OKI Printing Solutions are compliant with the EPA's Energy StarŪ Program.
OKI printers are designed to cut energy consumption up to 50% when they are idle. This reduces the risk of air pollution resulting from power generation and reduces your operating costs.
OKI Data is committed to recycling OKI Data marks for recycling all substantial parts within our products, packaging and documentation. As a company OKI Data practices recycling in a big way. We partner with solid waste companies that are committed to developing markets for recycled materials. In the past 12 months, more than 612 tons of waste generated by OKI Data manufacturing and office operations was recycled rather than sent to landfills.
| Material | Amount Recycled |
| Cardboard | 293 Tons |
| Machine Parts | 182 Tons* |
| Office Paper | 38 Tons |
| Polystyrene Foam | 99 Tons |
*Machine Parts are stats from the period of 2006, not 2007 as the others are,
Environmental education Employees at all of OKI Printing Solutions' production facilities, sales and management offices are encouraged to save resources, energy and reduce industrial waste.
