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SIFT has gone through a bit of growth recently and was in need of a decent colour printer, scanner and photocopier so we could produce professional documents in house. Our little inkjet printer just wasn’t cutting it anymore. Being a charity buying a big multi-function device was out of the question. So, we approached Ricoh (whose Christchurch office is very near ours) and asked them if they could help us out with a second hand machine on loan (and in return we would tweet and blog about the good things Ricoh are doing for the environment). And they said yes!! Super pleased.

Our printer/photocopier was installed on Wednesday and has already been used.  Apparently it’s four generations old but still does a great job. You wouldn’t think that a machine like this would be significant to how a business produces quality work, but it does. It will help us to produce documentation, artwork and presentations that are of a higher quality, it will allow us to scan more than one item at once (super fast archiving) and will help us to assist those projects that are making a big difference to reducing waste to landfill.

Ricoh, we found out, is also a sustainably led organisation. Here are a few key eco-creds that make them a “good” New Zealand business worth supporting:

• Ricoh is carboNZero(TM) certified – their Sustainability Report states that all the electricity consumed by the multi-function devices and printers is already offset before they reach an office to be used (as well as the emissions from their offices and dealer network). Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2009 were 2535.54 tCO2-e.
• They have the Environmental Choice award from the NZ Eco Labelling Trust (endorsed by the government).
• They have a dedicated Sustainability Advisor whose job is to ensure “Ricoh’s activities have the least possible impact on the environment.”
• They act as an ambassador for sustainability “encouraging and leading the way for our 6,500 customers to improve their own sustainable business practices” (quote from Managing Director Mike Pollok).
• Ricoh sees sustainable business practices as a long-term win for their bottom line.
• They have a product stewardship scheme in place refurbising old machines for recycling or resale. They refurbished and resold 1,254 machines last year.
• They recycle used toners, product packaging and old machines. Up to 87% of all parts used in Ricoh machines can be recycled including the toners. Any machine that cannot be used has all its metal and plastic parts strip for reuse and the rest for recycling.
• Ricoh collected and recycled 37,730 used toner cartridges last year (40% of all toner cartridges used by Ricoh customers and 90-95% of the toner cartridge is recycled). They aim to find a local recycler in each area to recycle the parts and have a goal of 100% recyclability. Although, the toner powder can not be recycled but is sent to Trans Pacific Industries “where it is neutralised and combined with resin to form a compact block”  that will go to landfill.
• All machines are unwrapped at Ricoh offices and delivered to the customer with the plastic wrapping only (which we saw) and the cardboard, polystyrene and polyethylene plastic bags are recycled (although the Dunedin office does not yet have the facility for local polystyrene recycling).
• They hold an annual tree planting day.
• Internally they have a Corporate Social Responsbility Charter and Environment Policy.
• They were the first office equipment company in New Zealand to achieve ISO14001 for its branch offices.
• They have a range of Energy Star accreditated products.
• They are members of the Sustainable Business Network and New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.
• They hold a Ricoh Eco-Action Day every year on World Environment Day to involve the staff and community in sustainability and encourage sustainable business practices. In 2008 they set up a stationary bike to generate electricity for a laptop computer used at the Auckland office
• The Ricoh Group (global)  is ranked one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the world. You can read more about what Ricoh is doing in the rest of the world to reduce their impact on the environment here and here.

There is so much more that Ricoh NZ is doing and you can read it all  here in their latest Sustainability Report. They have an environment programme in place that looks at the whole picture from staff to their dealers, their customers, products, waste and emissions. It is good to know that Ricoh are quietly doing the right thing actively reducing their impact on the environment. What we want to see is all businesses acting in this way so that Corporate Social Responsibility and the reductions of carbon emissions, resources, and waste is the social norm.

Thanks Matt and Hannah (and the service team) from Ricoh for helping us with our remit to reduce waste to landfill. It is great to have business service providers that are aligned with your business values and objectives. Your support is greatly appreciated.

In late 2008 Ricoh installed this eco billboard in Times Square. Run of 45 solar panels and four wind turbines it was to reduce carbon dioxide use by 18 tonnes. Sourced from engadget.

- All quotes from the Ricoh NZ Sustainability Report.