Behind Epson's becoming the first global partner of "Earth Hour": continuous green innovation helps save energy and reduce carbon emissions
The 2024 Earth Hour event was launched globally on March 23 as scheduled, and Epson became the first global partner of the event. During the event, Epson encouraged people to take energy saving actions where they can, and sold the company's website globally in more than 26 languages to educate the public about the importance of energy saving actions.
Why did Epson choose to actively support the "Earth Hour" activity? Akihiro Fukaishi, Chairman and President of Epson (China) Co., Ltd., said in an interview with China Environment News, "Since its establishment, Epson has been firmly practicing the concept of coexistence with society and continuing to take action to protect the natural environment. We also believe that everyone's efforts are essential when it comes to fulfilling our mission. If enough people are involved, even small actions can make a big difference. This partnership helps us increase our understanding of environmental activities and encourage more people to take action. ”
Akihiro Fukaishi, Chairman and President of Epson (China) Co., Ltd. Photo provided by the interviewee
According to the latest data released by Epson, by the end of December 2023, all Epson Group factories worldwide have achieved the transition to 100% renewable electricity, which is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 400,000 tons per year.
Green technology drives environmental innovation
Green has always been a bright color rooted in Epson's corporate genes.
As early as 2008, Epson released the "2050 Environmental Vision", and in 2021, it was further revised to improve and clarify that carbon negative emissions and zero consumption of underground resources will be achieved by 2050*1specific objectives.
Talking about this grand vision, Akihiro Fukaishi said, "The first is to help users and society better save energy through the products we provide, the second is to use renewable energy in the company's operations, and the third is to invest in the company's own investment and use biomass as a renewable energy source for power generation, which is also to contribute to environmental protection in an all-round way." ”
Under the vision, Epson actively takes action to fully support the company to achieve environmental protection goals with green technology.
"For example, Epson's Heat-Free cold printing technology does not require heat during the inkjet process, and the energy consumption is reduced by about 90% compared to traditional solutions. For example, in terms of manufacturing innovation, Epson's compact SCARA robot reduces resource usage, maintenance frequency, and factory downtime, helping production achieve digital intelligence.
In addition, Epson Atmix, a subsidiary of Epson, uses raw metal powder manufacturing technology to recycle metal materials from the Epson Group and uses the metal melting atomization process to produce metal powder products. By the end of fiscal 2021, Epson Atmix had recycled 8.5 tonnes of wafers, continuing to empower sustainability.
According to the "2023 Sustainability Report" released before Epson's birthday, Epson has made continuous progress through efforts since switching to renewable electricity in fiscal 2017. In 2022, the proportion of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity use was reduced to around 40%, and by December 2023, all factories worldwide had completed the transition to 100% renewable electricity.
Today, photovoltaic panels are installed on the buildings of Epson's Wuxi and Shenzhen factories, generating renewable electricity for their factories.
According to Akihiro Fukaishi, Epson will invest hundreds of billions of yen in the development of products and services that contribute to the sustainable development of society by reducing environmental load.
Create a low-carbon and sustainable Chinese market
"Over the past 40 years since we entered the Chinese market, we have seen the continuous development and growth of the Chinese market, and the Chinese market has strong vitality and innovation. In the eyes of Akihiro Fukaishi, in the course of China's development, the company has always adhered to the strategy of "technology + localization + environmental protection" to jointly realize the transformation and sustainable development of the industry.
He introduced to reporters the Epson green printing strategy launched by Epson in the Chinese market, which is different from traditional printing technology, from product production, assembly to sales and service, all practice the concept of green and sustainable development. First of all, Epson's inkjet printers use Epson's unique Heat-Free cold printing technology, which not only consumes less energy, but also helps to improve printer performance and effectively reduce environmental impact. Secondly, in the process of product use, Epson ink cartridge type®The printer's outer packaging is made from 80% renewable materials, which significantly reduces the environmental impact of discarded packaging.
"We have also taken steps to recycle and refill ink bottles and cartridges before launching them for sale, which has already started this year. Akihiro Fukaishi said.
It is worth mentioning that in China, an official refurbishment campaign has also been launched for ink tank products to reduce the environmental impact of products and services throughout their life cycle. The data shows that in 2023, users who choose to buy refurbished machines have reduced 122 tons of waste together with Epson*2。
"In the past, when people talked about regeneration, they thought it was downgraded, but now we have a new way of upgrading and improving the quality of regeneration. Akihiro Fukaishi told reporters that this is Epson's world's first dry fiber technology, through the three-step process of fiber separation, strengthened bonding and press molding, re-endowing paper with life, realizing waterless regeneration of old paper, and saving energy and natural resources in a green and circular way.
The reporter learned that Epson's dry fiber paper recycling system, as the first wholly foreign-owned enterprise technology, was successfully selected into the first batch of Beijing innovative green technology recommendation catalogue in 2023.
Epson's innovative technology extends to other areas as well. On January 18 this year, Epson announced that it had signed a joint development agreement with the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel Limited (HKRITA) to establish a degumming technology for hard-to-recycle fabrics by using its proprietary dry fiber technology, thereby helping to significantly accelerate the use of recycled fibers.
The green supply chain emphasizes circularity and energy saving
In recent years, Epson has set its sights on renewable energy and is committed to driving the growth and development of the renewable energy market.
"Epson wants to achieve a sustainable society and is willing to bear the high short-term costs of upfront investment in renewable energy. We believe that this investment contributes to the creation of social value for the benefit of future generations. During the conversation, Akihiro Fukaishi expressed Epson's strong willingness to invest, which also reflects the company's commitment to investing financial and other resources to drive the growth and development of the renewable energy market.
Akihiro Fukaishi further elaborated that setting targets and demonstrating a willingness to address climate change at an early stage in the process of moving towards a sustainable society can benefit not only the company itself, but also its suppliers.
Today, Epson's entire global supply chain is involved in the expansion of renewable electricity capacity.
In order to build a green supply chain for the company, Epson has established strict internal standards for the production of environmentally friendly products, and actively promotes green procurement activities with the same standards around the world.
In China, in recent years, the relevant state departments have successively issued standards and specifications for green packaging of postal express mail, requiring relevant enterprises to improve packaging solutions in accordance with the standards. To this end, in terms of the use of packaging materials, Epson China has gradually reduced the width of the tape in recent years, switched the material, introduced environmentally friendly packaging materials, and deplasticized the packaging materials.
In Epson's official refurbished machine business, recyclable pallets and to-boxes are used instead of single-use wooden pallets and cartons, as well as recycled plastic covers are used to reduce the use of plastic.
In addition, Epson has also cooperated with DB Schenker in the field of new energy vehicles, piloting intra-city delivery services for new energy vehicles in some cities, exploring greener delivery solutions to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction effects.
"We believe that everyone's efforts matter. Akihiro Fukaishi said that Epson hopes to bring more environmentally friendly technical products and better services to the society, so that users can enjoy advanced technology while protecting the earth and balancing the relationship between people and the earth, which is also the incumbent social responsibility of the enterprise.
