Ensuring Product and Chemical Substance Safety
Green Procurement System
Implementing green procurement to assess the chemical constituents of parts and components and give preference to those with the least environmental impact
Green Procurement System
Konica Minolta operates a Green Procurement System in compliance with laws and regulations for chemical substances.
In the operation of the SIGMA Green Procurement System, the Group ensures its compliance with the RoHS directive,*1 and also rapidly complies with more stringent regulations on chemical substances in products by expanding its coverage to include substances of very high concern (SVHCs) on the candidate list for authorization and other substances restricted under REACH regulations.*2 Through these efforts in assessment and management of chemical substances in products, the Group is keeping an eye on trends in regulations and alternative technologies and is working on plans to eliminate hazardous materials in order to be sure it avoids risks.
In addition, in order to ease the workload of suppliers, the Group uses the chemSHERPA*3 scheme to define the substances covered in its survey. Moreover, the Group regularly provides information on trends in environmental laws and regulations (revision of the Green Procurement Guidelines) to its suppliers to ensure understanding of Konica Minolta’s initiatives.
- *1
- RoHS directive: Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment
- *2
- REACH regulations: Regulations enacted by the EU in June 2007 concerning the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals, to consolidate existing regulations concerning chemical substances.
- *3
- chemSHERPA: A scheme developed by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to facilitate the sharing of information on chemical substances contained in products in the supply chain. The Joint Article Management Promotion-consortium is responsible for its administration.
Main Features
- Japanese, English and Chinese language support
- Supports a standard chemical substance survey (chemSHERPA)
- Checking for prohibited substances and collection of information on reported substances in products
- Sharing of information from surveys and responses with business partners
- Storage of communication records in databases ensures compliance through tracking
- Simplifies the response to changes in regulations and substances subject to control
Environmental Collaboration
The Business Technologies Business has built strong partnerships through the Environmental Collaboration initiative to strengthen suppliers’ environmental management.
This is an initiative to help suppliers develop independent environmental management.
In addition to guidance on chemical substance management and document management including of measurement results and material information,
Konica Minolta also provides education to suppliers’ employees and certifies those who pass as internal evaluators for suppliers.
We also perform QC environmental diagnosis for new business sites and provide guidance based on the results.
