ECOSYS Technology

KYOCERA’s Long-Life Technology – ECOSYS

Based on KYOCERA Document Solutions’ many years of expertise in unique long-life technology for printers, under the basic philosophy of “Continuing to develop and produce remarkable environmentally conscious products true to the name of the printer brand ‘ECOSYS’ all through the ages,” KYOCERA Document Solutions is developing environmentally conscious products and technologies in various aspects.

• ECOSYS printers offer a uniform platform (i.e. unified operation, unified drivers and unified options) for maximum flexibility and expandability.
• By reducing consumable items by long-life design developed under the ECOSYS concept and conducting energy-saving efforts, we have achieved a remarkable reduction in TEC* values and CO2 emissions, compared to conventional models.
  * TEC value is a criterion required to comply with the International Energy Star Program standard. It refers to electricity consumed in one week, assuming (alternation of operation and sleep/off modes five days) + (sleep/off modes two days).
• Up to 85% less electronic waste during the life of the printer thanks to the low-waste design of ECOSYS technology.

ECOSYS = ECONOMY – ECOLOGY – SYSTEM Printing

ECONOMY: Optimised workflow efficiency
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is the true lifetime cost of a device as operating expenses can significantly exceed the original purchase price. ECOSYS devices are designed to minimise both direct costs, such as consumables, and indirect costs, such as energy usage and administration, invariably offering the lowest TCO in their class.

ECOLOGY: Minimised environmental impact
KYOCERA’s long-life technology utilises our extensive expertise in ceramics. The durable drum is integral to the printer; the only consumable is the toner cassette. ECOSYS printers consume fewer materials in manufacture, generate less waste and simplify recycling, thereby minimising environmental impact.

SYSTEM: Effortless system integration
With KYOCERA ECOSYS devices offer a wide range of enhancements designed to maximise document output productivity. Additional functionalities and upgrades are available, optimising the long-term benefit of investment. Finally, KYOCERA Document Solutions’ integrated system software ensures long-term and cross-network compatibility.

Universal Design

KYOCERA believes that improving the usability of its products leads to improving operational efficiency for the customers that use its products. Aiming at producing genuine, easy-to-use products, the company incorporates universal design into various products in various ways.

Low-Noise Design in Office Environment

What should KYOCERA Document Solutions MFPs be like?

Developer’s statement:
Following numerous discussions, every KYOCERA Document Solutions employee is constantly pursuing “what the customer wants most” as well as “quality that warrants customer satisfaction.” Reducing a product’s operational noise even by a single decibel (dB) requires an incredibal amound of effort. In particular, in the case of multifunctionl product that are often used beside one’s desk, the realizeation of a non -disruptive level of operation nooise was  a major issue. In making these improvements, we were able to achieve levels five decibels (dB) quieter than when compared to prior machines.

Long-life KYOCERA printers

When using a printer it is usually necessary to replace a complex toner cartridge, containing the photoconductor drum and peripheral parts, every few thousand pages. Instead, KYOCERA has implemented a long-life design concept utilizing various ECOSYS technologies, including a-Si (amorphous silicon) drums, so that only the toner needs to be regularly replaced. As a result, as many as 300,000 pages can be printed with having to replace anything except toner, significantly reducing both waste and cost.

Ozone-Free Design

KYOCERA Document Solutions  incorporates positively-charged photoconductors that generate less ozone into our products and parts, including a-Si drums.

In the TASKalfa 500ci series, color multifunctional products launched in January 2009, and FS-C540DN, a color printer launched in April 2009, the company has adopted a system in which an a-Si drum is combined with the positive charging roller system, thereby successfully reducing the generation of ozone, which was generated in small quantities in products using conventional systems, to a negligible level.

Environmental Labels

ECO Labels

Nordic Swan is an environmental label for which shared criteria are stipulated by the Nordic Eco-Labeling Board and which is used in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. It is operated by the relevant ministries and agencies of these countries. The “Swan” is the official Nordic eco label, introduced by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Swan logo demonstrates that a product is a good environmental choice. The Swan checks that products fulfil certain criteria using methods such as samples from independent laboratories, certificates and control visits. The Swan’s requirements are: attention to the product’s impact on the environment from the raw material to waste throughout the product’s lifecycle; and standards with regards to quality and performance. Many of KYOCERA Document Solutions’ devices comply with the Swan. For more details about awarded products please go to the award site.

The Blue Angel eco-label is one of the most famous environmental labels in the world. Awarded by the German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification, the label signifies that a product has exceptional ecological credentials and meets the detailed criteria of a comprehensive body of legislation set by the Federal Office for the Environment. The objective of the “Blue Angel” eco label is to keep the impact of harmful substances, energy consumption and waste on the environment to a minimum. The award of the “Blue Angel” eco-label has a long-standing tradition at KYOCERA Document Solutions. Blue Angel is an environmental label whose criteria are stipulated by the Germany Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and which is operated by the German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification (RAL). For more details about awarded products please go to the award site.

The new ENERGY STAR specification for imaging equipment introduced by the Government of the US and the EU helps users of office and home technology to protect the environment and save money through energy efficient products labeled with its logo. The new ENERGY STAR rating for imaging equipment has stricter requirements than its predecessor, particularly with regards to paper consumption. All of KYOCERA Document Solutions’ current printers and multifunctional products produced after 1 April 2007 fulfil and exceed the requirements of the new ENERGY STAR specification. ENERGY STAR rated printers can cut electricity use by over 60 per cent and an ENERGY STAR rated MFP can save about 160 EUR in electricity bills over its lifetime in comparison to non-rated devices. For more details about awarded products please go to the award site.

Eco Mark is an environmental label established by the Japan Environment Association (JEA) in 1989. Products that have low environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle from production to disposal and are useful for environmental protection can be labeled with this label.

Green Factories and Logistics

Reduction of environmental load

KYOCERA Document Solutions has made various efforts to reduce the environmental load incurred

210kW Solar Power Generating System, Yohkaichi Plant, Shiga, Japan

through delivering our products to our customers. We contribute to environmental protection not only through its products, but also by ensuring that its manufacturing facilities and methods are environmentally friendly throughout all development, production and distribution processes. This often involves aggressive measures, such as installing solar power generating systems on facility rooftops.

CO2 Reduction through Logistics

In the past, KYOCERA Document Solutions’ products destined for Europe had been transported via

Double-Trailers to reduce number of trucks for transportation efficiency

truck to its warehouses after discharging them at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Since its new warehouse began its operation in 2007 (in Beringe, southern Netherlands), its mode of transportation has been shifted to trains and/or barges*, which are considered to cause less strain on the environment, reducing its truck transportation accordingly. The proportions of its modes of transportation in fiscal 2009 were: 84% for trains, 7% for barges, and 9% for trucks.

In addition to the above-mentioned approach, KYOCERA Document Solutions, since June 2009, has reduced the number of trucks it uses for transportation in order to improve its shipping efficiency travelling from the Netherlands to Italy by using double-decker trailers.

* Barges: Small transport vessels that carry containers from ports to the destination using rivers and canals.

Efforts of CO2 Reduction in Japan

KYOCERA Document Solutions had used two outside warehouses in Japan to store products for domestic shipments until May 2009, when the two warehouses were integrated into the Hirakata Plant. This allowed us to abolish the truck transportation of products manufactured at the Hirakata Plant (Osaka Prefecture) to a location outside our company. In addition, we have been able to integrate our inventory, which had previously been stored at the Tamaki Product Center (Mie Prefecture), into Hirakata Plant, rendering our truck transportation from Hirakata Plant to Tamaki Product Center unnecessary since August 2009.

Efforts of CO2 Reduction at Factories in China

Our products for the Chinese market were once transported via land to AVX/KYOCERA (Tianjin) International Trading Co., Ltd., which is our sales company in China. This was done by way of Shanghai after shipping from the Shilong Plant in Dongguan City to a warehouse in Guangzhou, using trucks for transportation. To reduce CO2 emissions from transportation, we reviewed our mode of transportation and changed it to shipping products to Shanghai and Tianjin by sea from fiscal 2009.

Export containers from our Shilong Plant, which had once been transported via truck to Yantian Port in Shenzhen, are currently transported via truck to Changping Railway Station in Dongguan City (Guangdong, China), the location of the Shilong Plant, and via railway from Changping Railway Station to Yantian Port. The shift in mode of transportation in the area between Changping Railway Station and Yantian Port has allowed the transport distance by truck to be reduced.

Green Activities

KYOCERA Document Solutions United Kingdom – Environmental Company of the Year

Environmental Company of the Year Award Ceremony

Recognizing the technology of the ECOSYS printer and our efforts towards resolving environmental issues, KYOCERA Document Solutions was elected the Environmental Company of the Year at the Microscope Awards for Channel Excellence (ACE). In addition to our efforts in regard to environmental issues, we were also deemed to have made achievements that set a good example to other companies; an evaluation that was connected to our receiving this award.

KYOCERA’s Commitment to the Environment

The 21st century is becoming known as the “environmental century.” KYOCERA has known since its early days that business activities can influence the environment and human life. Thus, we as KYOCERA Document Solutions established a clear vision to seek harmonious balance between economic development and environmental protection. Our goal is to provide attractive products and services while taking active measures to prevent global warming, reduce waste, promote energy efficiency and conserve resources. Here are some global activites initiated by KYOCERA Document Solutions.

KYOCERA UK – 10:10 Climate Pledge

KYOCERA UK has signed the 10:10 climate pledge and committed to reducing our carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. We’re publishing our progress towards achieving our 10% – if you’d like to see how we’re getting on click here.

We are encouraging all of our customers and busness partners to join the campaign. Find out more about it atwww.1010uk.org.

KYOCERA Document Solutions United Kingdom – Green Card Network

Green Card is the free environmental information network for customers and associates of KYOCERA Document Solutions UK. The aim of the network is to inform our customers about environmentally responsible office practices, relevant legislation and KYOCERA’s own environmental sustainability practices. It is part of KYOCERA’s wider commitment to promoting environmentally responsible business. The principle of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is central to the work of the Green Card network and drives every activity that is undertaken by KYOCERA.

KYOCERA Document Solutions United Kingdom – Environmental Policy

KYOCERA is committed to reducing the impact of its business operations on the environment. The  aim is to continuously improve our environmental performance.

In November 2008, KYOCERA Document Solutions became the first company in our industry sector to achieve The Carbon Trust Standard. This accreditation demonstrates our ongoing commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our operations, and recognises the significant contribution of all our staff towards exceeding our carbon abatement targets.

KYOCERA Document Solutions Germany – Environmental Prize

In 2007, KYOCERA Document Solutions Germany along with the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH) and the Federal Association of Medium-size Enterprises (BVMW), established the KYOCERA Eco Award, which is designed to award small- and medium-sized businesses that have contributed to the development of new energy saving technologies and environmental protection projects.
The objective of the joint initiative is to initiate projects among small and medium-sized businesses in Germany for reducing CO2 emissions.
On April 29, 2009, the second award ceremony of the KYOCERA Eco Award was held in Bonn, Germany.

KYOCERA Document Solutions Germany awards the second KYOCERA Eco Award, April 2009

The second award ceremony of the KYOCERA Eco Award

This award has been conducted with a donation of 100 thousand euro in total from KYOCERA Document Solutions Germany, DUH and BVMW, with 50,000 Euro being awarded to the first prize winner, 30,000 Euro to the second prize winner and 20,000 Euro to the third prize winner. The screening this time was conducted by a panel of 10 judges with Prof. Klaus Topfer, then Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and then German Federal Minister for the Environment as chairman, resulting in the selection of the following three companies out of over 60 nominees. On April 29, 2009, the second award ceremony of the KYOCERA Eco Award was held in Bonn, Germany.

First Prize

SkySails GmbH & Co. KG
The company developed high performance sails for freighters. These sails save approximately 50% of the energy previously used during navigation.

Second Prize

Lichtblick GmbH & Co. KG
The company developed natural gas-powered small co-generation facilities in cooperation with the automobile manufacturer, Volkswagen AG. This system can not only reduce household CO2 emission but also network houses to provide extra electricity for local governments as required.

3rd Prize

GROZ Beckert KG
This company developed machine knitting needles that are more lightweight than conventional needles. These needles reduce the electricity used to power knitting machines, as well as contributing to reducing lubricating oil with a change of the material.

KYOCERA Document Solutions America – Evergreen and EIP Award

Evergreen Award in America

KYOCERA Document Solutions America received the Technologies and Commodities Category Award at the 2008 Evergreen Awards. Established in 1998, these awards are given to companies that are good models to other companies, in recognition of proactive engagement in enterprise activities designed to reduce waste and recycle in consideration of the environment. This is the second time KYOCERA Document Solutions has won this award, the first being in 2005. We also won the 2008 Industry Green Contractor of EIP Award (Excellence in Partnership Award) – the most competitive category – recognizes companies that provide products that are kind to the environment, and have contributed most to the environment in the areas of manufacturing process and business management.

KYOCERA Document Solutions Australia – Business Clean Up Day in Australia

Activities in "Business Clean-up Australia"

In February 2009, “Business Clean Up Australia” (a business-oriented volunteer cleaning effort held yearly across Australia) was held. Twelve employees below the president participated as volunteers. Activities included the cleaning of weeds and removal of garbage at Chowder Bay National Park, and the planting of native Australian flora.

KYOCERA Document Solutions South Africa – Donation of Trees

Trees are donated through the assistance of the FTFA

This project has been in continual operation since April, 2008. One tree is planted for each multifunctional product or printer sold, and the customer is asked to become an investor to purchase a tree. Trees are donated to developing areas including West Cape Province and Gauteng Province. It is an excellent opportunity for local natives to learn the importance of protecting trees.

Green Curtains at KYOCERA buildings for saving energy in a natural way

Big Cleaning Day in Thailand

On March 20, 2010, KYOCERA Document Solutions Thailand carried out a volunteer clean-up campaign known as “Big Cleaning Day.” This activity was initiated from the rise of consciousness among employees about contributing to the protection of the global environment in the process of KYOCERA Document Solutions Thailand acquiring its ISO14001 certificate. The first campaign was conducted on June 3, 2006. In this campaign, the fifth Big Cleaning Day, approximately 50 employees participated in cleaning the beach of Khung Kraben Bay in Chantha-buri Province in eastern Thailand and collected litter filling 10 trash bags. KYOCERA Document Solutions Thailand has also planted mangroves as its social contribution activity helping to prevent global warming. In the future, KYOCERA Document Solutions Thailand will also be actively engaged in such environmental protection activities.

Environmental News

• KYOCERA MITA launches new A3 colour MFPs highlighting superb ease of use and management
• New KYOCERA MITA workgroup colour printers deliver environmental advantages
• KYOCERA MITA launches first ECOSYS A4 colour MFPs
• KYOCERA MITA completes new desktop printer line-up with FS-1370DN
• KYOCERA MITA puts more power on the desktop with launch of two new ECOSYS mono laser printers

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Efforts in Resource Savings

KYOCERA Document Solutions has established a resource recycling system. Under this system, all collected used products are transported to recycling centers operated by KYOCERA Document Solutions and carefully disassembled by hand. After that, an inspection identical to that conducted on newly manufactured parts is conducted on the disassembled parts; reusable parts are reused while any parts not reusable are recycled to the utmost extent. The company has been continuing to achieve zero landfill waste (zero emissions) with this resource recycling system.

Establishment of Reusing and Recycling System

In Japan, KYOCERA Document Solutions collects and recycles products and toner containers no longer used by customers through its eight collection centers and recycling centers located throughout Japan. By locating its centers in eight regions throughout the country, the transportation distance can be shortened to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by transportation.
At collection centers, the quality conditions of products collected from customers together with the status of their use by customers are confirmed. After that, the products are transported to recycling centers.

At each recycling center, the products are sorted out based on their quality conditions, and only parts that passed the standards are transported to the company’s Reconditioning Plant. The company has achieved zero emissions by thoroughly sorting out non-reusable parts and focusing on material recycling. (Final landfill rate: less than 1%)

KYOCERA Document Solutions places top priority on reuse, rather than recycling, of used products and toner containers. However, portions that are not reusable are recycled; items are carefully disassembled by hand, focusing on material recycling, and the disassembled parts are sorted out by material such as metal, plastic and glass.
The portions that are not recyclable through material recycling are recycled through chemical or thermal recycling. Through these efforts, KYOCERA Document Solutions successfully reduces landfill waste to as close to zero as possible, and has continued to achieve zero emissions since fiscal 2008.

Recycle and Reuse

Reuse of Parts

KYOCERA Document Solutions is also engaged in the business of supplying reusable parts recovered from collected used products to the market as reuse parts.

Based on the information about used products confirmed in the collection centers, reusable plastic parts, printed circuit boards, electric parts and other parts are sorted out, cleaned and inspected for quality at the recycling centers. After that, stricter inspection is conducted on these parts and only parts that passed the inspection are shipped as reuse parts.

KYOCERA Toner

Easy administration and ecological waste disposal

Using original KYOCERA toner can substantially reduce the administrative effort and cost associated with disposing of empty toner cassettes. In most European countries KYOCERA has established a toner return program. The service is free of charge – just order a collection box for empty KYOCERA toner cassettes. Contact our service provider for an immediate pick-up and replacement with an empty one. What could be more simple and efficient?

By using an official KYOCERA returns program you are also assured that empty cassettes will be recycled or disposed of in the most ecological way possible. KYOCERA does not offer this service for non-genuine toners.

KYOCERA Document Solutions has been promoting the collection and reuse of used toner containers since 1998. Used toner containers collected from customers are gathered to the collection centers and then transported to the recycling centers. These toner containers are sorted out regarding cracks, flaws and the like based on the criteria used at the center. After that, reusable toner containers are transported to the Reconditioning Plant, where they are cleaned and undergo strict inspection for appearance, airtightness, etc., identical to that conducted on newly manufactured toner containers. After that, they can finally be reused.

In fiscal 2009, 512 tons of used toner containers were collected and 198,000 toner containers, were reused. Since model change was conducted for products using reusable toner containers in fiscal 2009, although the weight of the collected toner containers increased by approximately two percent from fiscal 2008, the number of reused toner containers decreased by about 20 percent.

Using original KYOCERA toner saves the staff health, device health and your money.

Tips when buying new printers

• It is recommended to analyse your needs prior to purchase and calculate the most cost efficient purchase which provides the minimum impact on the environment. Here you can also use the easy to use calculator KYOCERA Printer Economy Check (PEC) which helps you to find the correct device according to your requirements. Additionally, it also compares KYOCERA products to the competitors’ products and clearly shows your savings when you decide for KYOCERA products.
• General Office equipment spends significant time consuming energy while waiting to perform a task. Using energy as efficiently as possible during this period is crucial to keeping energy use and costs to a minimum.
• Products with long-life components and higher toner yields will generate significantly less waste over the life of your product.
• Be informed, some printer process units take over 900 years to break down in landfill. If your supplier cannot provide this information find another supplier who can.
• Some printers today are ozone free, ask your supplier about Ozone emissions.
• Ask your supplier if the printer, MFD or copier is compliant to the RoHS standard?
• Ask your supplier what do they do with all the packaging, are they compliant to the
  ENERGY STAR products are capable of enabling energy saving features to reduce how much power is used during periods of inactivity. Enabling this feature is important to running office equipment as efficiently as possible. Step by step instructions explaining how to enable ENERGY STAR features on most common types of computers and external modems are found atwww.energystar.gov.au/consumers/stepbystep.html
  If you can’t enable ENERGY STAR on your equipment, an alternative energy-saving software product called Energy Management Option, EMO, is available. This software can switch off your computer when you’re not using it and shut it down at night. It also provides calculations on energy, cost and greenhouse gas emissions savings which are useful details to include in your business’s energy audits and reports.
• Inkjet or modern dot matrix printers whilst they are generally cheaper to buy, are slower than laser printers and significantly more expensive to run, generating greater waste with low toner yields. It is recommended to analyse your needs prior to purchase and calculate the most cost efficient purchase which provides the minimum impact on the environment.
• If you are buying a printer, multifcuntional device, or copier ask your supplier about waste, takeback programs, what are the preventative maintenance cycles, how often do you have to replace a drum? Products with long-life components and higher toner yields will generate significantly less waste over the life of your product.

• If you need toner, please make sure that you buy original KYOCERA toner. They save the environment, your money and the health of your staff and your devices. For more, please read the toner brochure on the right.