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Press Release

Ricoh Turns Off Signage All Over the World With the Exception of 100% Eco-Powered Billboards (30/05/2012)
Tokyo, May 30, 2012 – Ricoh (President and CEO : Shiro Kondo) will position the month of June as “Ricoh Global Eco Action Month” with the aim of widespread, sustained Eco Actions by Group employees around the world. As part of “Ricoh Global Eco Action” Ricoh will turn off the lights on all billboards, Ricoh logo signboards and night lighting facilities at all Group companies around the world on the night of June 5, which is United Nations World Environment Day. The 100% eco-powered billboards in New York (Times Square), London, and Sydney will be excluded.
“Ricoh Global Eco Action” began in 2006 as an environmental event for enhancing awareness among Group company employees worldwide and promoting environmentally friendly thinking actions. The theme of the seventh year of “Ricoh Global Eco Action” is “THINK & ACT. Think and act on your own.” Employees are individually encouraged to focus on energy conservation at work and at home, host and participate in environmental events, and take other actions that reflect their concerns for the environment. These events are announced for participation via posters, mail news, and through the transmission and sharing of information on Facebook and the Ricoh intranet.
Ricoh continues with the “Ricoh Global Eco Action” expanding its environmental conservation movement from Group employees to their families, friends, business partners and clients.
Eco-Powered Electronic Billboards
As with “Ricoh Global Eco Action,” the eco-powered electronic billboards excluded from the upcoming switching off of signage, represent one of the measures being undertaken to “expand the circle of global environmental conservation.” The initiative is based on the idea that “even if the billboards don’t light up and fulfill their functions as signage due to weather, we hope that the message the billboards convey will raise many people’s environmental awareness and lead to the realization of a sustainable society.” Experimental lighting began in April 2009, and following the completion of the first billboard at Times Square, New York in 2010, additional billboards were installed in June and July last year in London and Sydney, respectively. The average combined power generation of the three sites has been calculated at approximately 150,000 wh per day.
Ricoh’s approach to environmental management goes beyond simply meeting regulatory requirements, to combining ecological concerns with its business strategy to drive environmental conservation and profitability. With sustainable innovation at the heart of its business, Ricoh is also expanding its services for its customers. It is building upon the award winning Sustainability Optimisation Programme, designed for the office, by offering the Carbon Balanced Printing Programme as a service specifically for Commercial Printers. Both programmes are accredited by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and focus on helping businesses to reduce impacts wherever possible and offset the unavoidable carbon emissions through carbon credits generated by clean energy projects in which Ricoh has invested.
James Deacon, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Ricoh UK says: “At Ricoh, we have always considered our impact on the world and demonstrated Corporate Social Responsibility, so much so, that it is ingrained into our corporate values and integrated into the very heart of our operations. By dedicating the month of June to raising environmental awareness among our customers, suppliers and employees, we can make a real and positive change to the environment, further helping our clients to be more profitable and sustainable at their own sites as well as taking action in our own operations.”

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Total Green Office Solutions
In 2005, Ricoh established long term targets for environmental impact reduction of 87.5% by 2050. Measuring our product lifecycle impacts became a fundamental aspect towards realising this goal and it was the catalyst for many improvements in our manufacturing processes including the reduction of impacts in raw material use as well as a focus on production processes and energy use.
http://www.ricoh.co.uk/services-solutions/total-green-office-solutions/index.aspx

Ricoh’s Sustainability Optimisation Programme
In a world increasingly sensitive to environmental issues, sustainability not only reduces costs and improves the bottom line, it also enhances customer and supplier perception of companies and brands.
http://www.ricoh.co.uk/services-solutions/total-green-office-solutions/sustainability-consultancy/

Ricoh’s eco technology
We believe that innovation and environmental objectives should work together to produce a truly sustainable society. Going beyond our manufacturing processes and recycling of our products, our innovation extends to customer use. Our continued research into eco-technologies has brought technological firsts including Plant-Based Plastics, Quick Start-Up (QSU)Technology, GELJET Technology, PxP Toner and paper saving initiatives. Contact a member of the Environment team at tgos@ricoh-europe.com.
http://www.ricoh.co.uk/services-solutions/total-green-office-solutions/echo-technology/index.aspx
About Ricoh
Ricoh designs, develops and manufactures a complete range of print and document management, hardware, software and services which are tailored to meet individual customer needs. Its devices print, copy, scan and fax documents as an integrated part of the IT network and enterprise content management system. Software is used to audit usage, manage document flows, simplify business processes, control print expenditure and secure access. The company takes an innovative approach to research and development, having invented the first digital black & white copier and introducing the colour-capable device.

Ricoh established an Environmental Protection Office in 1976, and has been striving to minimise the effect of its activities on the environment ever since. Ricoh UK’s environmental credentials are second to none; it operates a zero-waste policy at all of its manufacturing plants and is investing in carbon reduction technologies to reduce the environmental impact of its operations rather than merely offsetting its carbon footprint. The company operates a dedicated ‘Green Centre’, where old machines are re-commissioned and recycled in line with WEEE Directive guidelines and accredited with ISO14001:2004 for environmental management. Ricoh has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard that requires an organisation to measure, manage and reduce its carbon footprint and, for the fifth consecutive year, has also been named as one of the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World" by the World Economic Forum in Davos.


Website: www.ricoh.co.uk
About Ricoh’s environmental governance
Ricoh goes beyond compliance to take a responsible approach to the environment.
It combines ecological commitment with best business strategies simultaneously achieving conservation and profitability at its customer sites as well as its own operations

Ricoh environmental awards
In 2012 Ricoh was named one of the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’ by Corporate Knights for the eighth consecutive year.

In 2011 recognised by oekom research as one of the ‘World's Best Office Electronics Companies in Social and Environmental Performance’, awarded top prize in the ‘EFQM Sustainability Good Practice Competition’ for its customer focused Sustainability Optimisation Programme, named one of the ‘World’s Most Ethical Companies’ by the Ethisphere Institute for the third year running, listed for the eighth consecutive year in the FTSE4 Good Index.