Environmentally Conscious Raw Materials (Produce) | Promoting Environmental Design
Developing Low Environmental Impact Materials
Canon seeks to lower the impact its operations have on the environment by reducing the volume of CO2 it emits and the amount of resources it consumes. In addition, we are promoting the development of low environmental impact materials for use in our products.
Contributing to Global Warming Prevention through the Introduction of Bio-Based Plastics
In our drive to adopt low environmental impact materials, Canon Inc. is focusing on bio-based plastics, which are a type of plastic with a plant-derived component. In 2008, we succeeded in producing a bio-based plastic, jointly developed with Toray Industries, Inc., with the world's highest level of flame resistance.
This new material gained the BiomassPla Mark, based on the BiomassPla Identification and Labeling system of the Japan BioPlastics Association, and is already in use in the exterior parts of the imageRUNNER. We have been expanding adoption of bio-based plastics since 2010 as well.
We have also continued to improve bio-based plastic for use in large parts. The exterior parts of our imagePRESS C7010VP/C6010 digital production printer are the largest bio-based plastic parts in use in the industry.
Bio-based plastics, which curb increases in CO2 and reduce the consumption of oil resources, offer material properties that effectively reduce environmental impact. To date, however, bio-based plastics have not performed as well as conventional petroleum-based plastics in such areas as flame resistance, impact resistance, heat resistance and formability, and therefore their use in products had been limited.
Bio-based plastic, jointly developed by Canon and Toray Industries, Inc., achieves greatly enhanced material characteristics. This is the world's first bio-based plastic applicable for use in exterior parts of office multifunction devices (MFDs).
Considering that the use of this bio-based plastic results in a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process compared to petrochemical-based plastics used in producing MFDs up to now, it is expected to also help reduce CO2 over the entire product lifecycle.
In addition, we believe that deploying bio-based plastic for operational switches and other components that users make direct physical contact with provides an invaluable opportunity to raise environmental awareness among users.
We will continue to develop this technology to improve bio-based plastic and expand its applications and uses.
Examples of parts that incorporate bio-based plastics
Bio-Based Plastic Material Cycle
Introducing a Design for the Environment Method that Considers Product Lifecycles
Canon is striving to link its cost engineering framework to reducing environmental impact. We introduced a new Design for the Environment (DfE) method in 2009 and are pursuing environmental designs that take into account entire product lifecycles.
Specifically, during product design we establish CO2 emission reduction targets for each stage of the product lifecycle, including production and use.
As a result of the introduction of this method, the imageRUNNER ADVANCE series of office network MFDs cut CO2 emissions over the entire lifecycle by 15 to 40% compared to conventional models.
In the future, we will extend this method to other products in pursuit of further CO2 emission reductions.
Resource-Efficient Product Design
To help build a recycling-oriented society, Canon focuses on the development of resource-efficient products characterized by reduced size and weight, as well as easy-to-recycle product designs.
Smaller, Lighter Products
Canon aims to make its products among the smallest and lightest in each product group. To improve functionality and usability while requiring fewer resources, we focus on reducing weight and size from the development stage.
Canon is extending this approach not only to cameras, but also to business machines, mirror projection aligners, and medical equipment, overcoming issues related to design and expansion of functions.
Recycling-Conscious Designs
Regardless of where the product will be sold, Canon takes into account during the development and design stages the 65% recyclability rate and 75% recoverability rate*2 required by the EU WEEE Directive*1 (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive).
Canon continued thorough compliance with the WEEE Directive in 2011, including in the area of ease of processing *3.
Previously, we were already gathering basic information relating to waste and recycling required to conform to the WEEE Directive, the Battery Directive*4, and other regulations from the design stage onward. In 2010, we established a system for providing detailed data based on the applicable category and type according to the laws and processing scheme of each country in line with these directives.
This system went online in January 2011, enabling us to make simple and accurate measurements of emissions and recycling volumes, and achieve more precise data management.
- *1WEEE Directive
This EU directive requires manufacturers to recover or recycle devices after use to prevent environmental pollution caused by waste electrical and electronic equipment. - *2Recyclability and recoverability apply to products falling under WEEE Directive Category 3 (IT and Telecommunications Equipment) and Category 4 (Consumer Equipment).
- *3Ease of processing
Ease of breaking down main products into their constituent parts as designated by the WEEE Directive for the disassembly process. - *4Battery Directive
The EU Battery Directive requires the creation of structures for the collection and recycling of batteries containing environmental pollutants.
