To help build a recycling-oriented society, Canon focuses on the development of resource-conserving products. These products have such features as being smaller, lighter, and easy to recycle.
We disassemble and sort used products collected from customers to promote high-efficiency recycling. Part of this is inverse manufacturing (IM), an integrated process in which collected products, units and parts are cleaned and inspected for reuse in production lines. We are working to build recycling systems throughout the regions where we operate to elevate these activities to a global level.
Smaller, Lighter Products
To improve on product functions and usability yet use fewer resources, Canon focuses on reducing weight and size right from the development stage. By extending this approach beyond business equipment to include mirror projection aligners and medical equipment, Canon is reducing model size and weight while solving issues related to design and expansion of functions.
By 2008, we aim to reduce product weight by more than 15% over previous models, or by more than 30% compared to 2000 levels. During 2006, Canon achieved this goal for its major new product lines.
Rate of Size and Weight Reduction for Main Products
Recycle-Conscious Design
From the development and design stages, Canon strives to make products 75% recyclable by mass (for reuse and material recycling) and 85% recoverable by mass (including thermal recycling).
In 2006, we confirmed at the design stage the achievement of 65% recyclability and 75% recoverability for all products, as stipulated by the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive)*.
In 2007, we are revising our 3R design standards, which cover such items as product recoverability at the time of design, the percentage of parts common to multiple products, and improve the ease of product disassembly. These efforts are helping us to design easy-to-recycle products.
Promoting the Recovery of Collected Products
Canon constructs optimal recycling systems for each region in which it operates and promotes activities accordingly. During 2006, we achieved a recovery ratio of 95%, including products outsourced for treatment, for MFPs and 100% for toner and ink cartridges. These ratios include thermal recovery.
In addition to our ongoing collection program for toner and ink cartridges as part of our recovery activities in Japan, we have participated in the Bellmark Campaign since 2005. Through this fund-raising program, we give Bellmark points to schools in Japan registered with the Bellmark Foundation in proportion to the number of used cartridges they collected.
Recovered and recycled toner cartridges (United States)
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 (Recovery Rate) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copying machines (1,000 units) | 112 | 144 | 137 | 142 | 122 | 138(95.2%) |
| Toner cartridges (t) | 14,441 | 15,554 | 15,773 | 16,760 | 18,179 | 21,051(100%) |
| Ink cartridges (t) | 26 | 51 | 70 | 75 | 76 | 95(100%) |
Note: Recovery ratio includes thermal recycling.
Use of Reused Parts and Recycled Plastics
Canon has promoted global remanufacturing* since 1992, and began reusing parts in 1999. Targeting consumables, we introduced our Toner Cartridge Collection and Recycling Program on a worldwide basis in 1990. Under this scheme, parts and materials are reused, recycled and recovered after collected cartridges are sorted by product type. Furthermore, in 2002 Canon Ecology Industry introduced the industry’s first toner cartridge automatic recycling plant in Japan.
These efforts allow us to reuse parts and recycle plastics in almost all products we manufacture. In 2006, about 5,168 tons of reused and recycled materials were incorporated into new products.
Amount of Reused and Recycled Plastic
Canon pioneered the collection and recycling of used toner cartridges in 1990. Over the ensuing 16 years, Canon has promoted and expanded the activity around the world and nowadays achieves a 0% landfill ratio.
For these efforts, Canon received the Awards for Achievement in Promoting Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Activities (the 3R Awards) from Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2006.
To promote high-efficiency recycling, since 2005 Canon has introduced an IM Information Management System at its collection and treatment sites in Japan. This system barcodes used products at the time of collection, and by tracing and managing their course through the collection-recycling process ensures their proper, efficient and thorough treatment.
While employing this system, Canon feeds data on the progress of products, parts and materials through the recycling process into a database. This process is used by Head Office divisions, operating segments and Group companies to raise the efficiency of recycling operations.
Introduction of barcode management to realize high-efficiency recycling
