It’s Easy Being Green

December 4th, 2006: Sustainability is a big buzzword inside the business world today, if you haven’t got a green policy, then you just aren’t part of the cool corporations club anymore. According to Ricoh, however, a green policy can also have a positive effect on the bottom line.

Social responsibility is something Ricoh says it has employed for many years now and has, according to Robi George, Ricoh Australia’s Business Excellence Manager, its ambitious corporate social responsibility programs have given it a competitive advantage.

Speaking at the annual CSR Summit, George said that Ricoh Australia’s pioneering toner and machine recycling and refurbishment program has now developed into a total copier and printer recycling program encompassing more than 95 percent of machine components. This amounts to 1,200 tonnes of toners, printers and other waste material saved from landfill since 2001.

Due to this program and other environmental initiatives, Ricoh was recently named again by the World Environment Council among the planet’s top Global 100 sustainable corporations. Something George says highlights a clear link between shareholder value and sustainability.

“This list compiled by (environmental auditors) Corporate Knights & Innovest found that over a five-year period the companies included in this elite category returned a seven per cent greater return to shareholders against the general index for the same period,” he said.

George claims that while Ricoh’s leadership in sustainability had been shown to have a positive impact on shareholder return and the environment, another major benefit was the increase in commercial opportunities.

“There is an emerging trend for companies involved in tendering requests to require suppliers to demonstrate environmental management systems in order to be considered,” said George. “We are starting to feel the benefits of some companies’ green procurement policies but I think we could all do better in this area.”

Ricoh globally has also set itself the long-term goal of reducing its environmental impact to one eighth of its current level and is on target to meet this result by 2050.

But ultimately, George said, looking after the future of the planet was the most compelling reason of all to care about corporate social responsibility.

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