We’ve all heard about the damage to the ozone layer, the depletion of natural resources and climate change. As individuals, we have become increasingly aware of the role we play in this and have started to look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Recycling bins can now be seen at the front of almost every home in Ireland on bin collection day. However, what about the role of business? Are Irish and global organisations becoming more environmentally conscious? From what I heard this week at the Green Economy Forum in Croke Park, the answer is a resounding yes!

Global leaders and experts on sustainability, came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities for creating sustainable cities and the role businesses must play in achieving this.  I attended the event with our partners Digicom, who are specialists in the area of green technologies and have been advising customers, for many years now, on the most efficient and sustainable use of their IT investments.

From speaking with those attending the event, it became apparent that Irish businesses are becoming more aware of the importance of aligning business goals with environmental responsibilities. They are also beginning to realise the cost savings that can be made by implementing green policies and systems.

When we first meet with customers to discuss how they can reduce their carbon footprint, they are often surprised to hear the savings they can make. Some of our customers are reducing their print output by more than a million pages per year and thereby making large savings on print costs.

One client in particular, operating in the legal sector, has implemented a new managed document system which included downsizing a fleet of multi-functional devices, installation of energy-efficient devices and the introduction of centralised rules-based printing which encourages more duplex printing. This has resulted in a 20% cut in paper use, a saving of more than €120,000 per year, a reduction of 70% in CO2 emissions and significant savings in energy costs.

Positive change
Businesses also need to be aware of the impact their activities have on the community around them. Companies can enrich their reputation by making a positive change.  As organisations begin to see the merits of introducing more sustainable initiatives around their IT systems and policies, we expect that there will be a lot more emphasis placed on ‘going green’.

We are finding that if we put systems in place which make it easy for our customers to review their carbon emissions and related activities, they become increasingly interested in their results and improving on these.

Our @remote software provides customers with sustainability reports which track print and document performance from an environmental perspective and make it easy to visualise and record trends in CO2 savings, power usage and paper consumption in Ricoh devices. When we sit down for quarterly business meetings with customers, they are very eager to see how they are performing.

There is a large opportunity for businesses who both implement green technologies and those who are developing these technologies.

At Ricoh, we take a ‘cradle to cradle’ approach when it comes to the reuse of equipment. Our Eco-Line range of printers begins and ends in recycling. We take machines at end of life or contract, these are assessed and if acceptable are sent to our factory in Telford where they are stripped back to the carcass and rebuilt to an “as new” to the highest standards.

By taking this approach we can typically reduce the whole life environmental footprint of a machine by around 30%. We had one of these recycled machines at the Green Economy Forum this week and were inundated with queries from interested attendees.

As the Irish Rail advertisement says “We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.” From what I heard at the event this week, there is no doubt that the green agenda will continue to grow significantly and create large opportunities for those providing green technologies. However it is the businesses who implement these technologies who will be the ultimate winners.

Since my last blog back in January, people from all over the country have been eagerly awaiting the results of this year’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index. Today, it’s my pleasure to announce that Ricoh UK has achieved the Silver award – beating last year’s bronze at the first time of asking.

As a reminder, Ricoh’s first submission to the index was back in 2011 and the company’s performance has improved year on year. The continued success is testament to important corporate responsibility criteria such as effective stakeholder engagement, effective processes and reliable data. Ricoh has clearly demonstrated both management and performance improvement, to result in the Silver award.

Not only did Ricoh receive confirmation of this achievement, the significant increase to the overall score secured the title of being the ‘Most Improved Applicant’ for 2013. To put this achievement into perspective, out of all the questions answered as part of the submission, 72% were independently scored at 100%.

With this increased recognition in corporate responsibility, not to mention environmental credentials, the path to continuous improvement is well and truly set for Ricoh to go even one better next year. Again, watch this space…