Environmental considerations at all stages of our business activities

The Brother Group shows a variety of environmental considerations and conducts diverse environmental activities at all stages of our business activities from product development and design to collection and recycling.

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Reform and Recycle 1. Development and design

Product study in development stage

Basic policy

Brother products are developed and designed after confirming that they;

• Comply with laws and regulations of the various countries and regions where marketed;
• Are compact and lightweight so as to conserve resources;
• Improve energy conservation during use;
• Do not contain hazardous chemicals, and;
• Are easy to recycle when no longer used.

In thinking up environmental considerations across the entire life cycle of a product, it is very important to come up with the right design in this stage.

Measures

• Environmental impact assessments are done in the development stage. Eco-friendly design is applied to the entire life cycle of products from material procurement to production, use, collection and recycling.
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)* have been introduced to identify environmental load characteristics and improvement spots in each and every product. Findings are reflected in the next round of products.

* Quantitative approach for numerically identifying how much load a product exerts on the environment in each stage of its life cycle

MFC-930CDN MyMio inkjet multi-function center

With the MFC-930CDN MyMio inkjet multi-function center (2008 model), power to unused circuits is shut down while the machine is on standby, which greatly minimizes power consumption compared to 2006 models, with its performance greatly improved at the same time. As such, 2008 model successfully reduced CO2 emissions by about 30%.

Environmental Performance of the MFC-930CDN MyMio

Refuse and Reduce 2. Procurement

Lead-free solder circuit board

Brother Green Procurement Management System

Basic policy

The parts and materials used to make products are first screened to ensure that;

• They do not contain hazardous substances, and;
• They were made via eco-friendly processes.

After that, priority is given to eco-friendly parts and materials in purchasing.
In order to respond to chemical management demands such as the RoHS Directive, this stage is the most important, therefore thorough testing is done and lots of information is collected.

Measures

• Brother is coordinating with suppliers and using the IT-based Brother Green Procurement Management System to manage data on chemicals and promote the use of alternative substances. Efforts are also being promoted to deal with listed candidate substances of very high concern in line with the REACH Directive.

Reduce, Reuse, Reform and Recycle 3. Production

Product assembly

Production line

Basic policy

All manufacturing facilities of the Brother Group have an environmental management system that complies with ISO14001. Products are manufactured within that system with due consideration being given to;

• Not wasting materials and energy;
• Reducing pollutants in gas emissions and wastewater;
• Preventing the generation of waste, and;
• Recycling generated waste.

Measures

• Electrical power consumption and CO2 emissions are being reduced by efficiently running equipment at all manufacturing facilities.
• Activities are being promoted to prevent the generation of absolutely no landfill waste.

Refuse, Reduce, and Recycle 4. Packaging and distribution

Product packaging

Loading with consideration for stacking efficiency

Basic Policy

We are working to;

• Reduce product packaging and waste as much as possible, and;
• Reduce CO2 emissions in distribution and transport.

Measures

• We are promoting simpler and smaller packaging.
• We are simultaneously shipping mixtures of products from our internal companies, such as printers, facsimiles and sewing machines.
• We have reviewed distribution routes.

Reduce 5. Use

Environmental labels awarded to environment-friendly products

Basic policy

We show considerations so that, when customers use our products;

• They do not use excessive energy, and;
• Many different types of people can use our products safely, conveniently and comfortably.

Measures

• We are strengthening development of eco-friendly products primarily around energy conservation efforts.
• We have introduced universal design concepts.

Reuse and Recycle 6. Collection and recycling

Recycle center

Brother collection box located in office

Basic policy

As considerations for when customers no longer need our products, we make efforts to;

• Collect and recycle used products and consumables, and;
• Design products so that they are easy to recycle.
  

Measures

• For ink cartridges marketed in Japan, we launched an "Ink Cartridge Return Project" along with other printing product companies.

• For toner cartridges marketed in Japan, we have our own collection and recycle system.
• For toner cartridges marketed outside Japan, we have collection and recycle systems in countries/regions.
• For products, we collect and recycle used ones in Europe as required by the WEEE Directive. In Australia and New Zealand, we have our own collection and recycle system. In Japan, we are building a collection and recycle scheme (applying for extensive treatment).

 Recycle-Oriented Societies.