Building a Recycling-Oriented Society

Developing Resource-Conserving Products

Resource Savings through Process Transformation at Customers

Inkjet Textile Printer Reducing Use of Water Resources

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Inkjet Press That Saves Resources During Printing

UV Inkjet Digital Press

Rising environmental awareness is driving demands for the field of commercial and industrial printing to break away from conventional methods where large amounts are printed and surplus is discarded. In the world of marketing, meanwhile, labels and packages for each event are being produced in small lots, and product/marketing strategies targeting individual consumers, such as including specific people’s names, is gaining ground.
Konica Minolta’s digital inkjet printer AccurioJet KM-1 produces high image quality comparable to that of conventional offset printing and can handle a wide range of printing papers. It enables production of printed matter in just the quantity needed, at the time needed, to suit the customer’s exact needs. This, in turn, reduces environmental impact by minimizing waste. As one example, the printer has been equipped with ink consumption reduction mode, which helps to reduce ink waste. This solution also helps to reduce the labor-hours needed in the printing process due to its user-friendly operability, even for unskilled workers.

UV inkjet digital printer, AccurioJet KM-1e

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Contributing to Resource Recycling through Sensing Technology

Konica Minolta's hyperspectral Imaging, a sensing technology for multi-wavelength spectroscopic measurement of the visible to infrared light range, makes the non-destructive identification of chemical substances possible. The technology can automate the identification of plastic materials for recycling and the inspection of foreign substances in food and pharmaceuticals, thereby helping to solve environmental problems and more effectively use resources.

The appropriate sorting of each material is important when recycling plastic products. Each plastic material has its own unique reflective properties, and the SPECIM FX-17 hyperspectral camera enables the identification of PET, PP, PVC, HDPE, PS, etc. at the raw material level. The SPECIM FX-50, which is photosensitive in the long wavelength part of the infrared region, can be used to accurately sort even black plastic materials, which had been difficult until now.

Image taken with Konica Minolta’s hyperspectral camera

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Making Office Equipment Smaller and Lighter

Making products smaller and lighter contributes greatly to reducing raw materials use and energy consumption during production as well as environmental impact during disposal. Through technical development leveraging its core technologies, Konica Minolta is working at reducing the size and weight of its office equipment while increasing their performance. It is also actively pursuing the development of new products with low environmental impact.

Example of product launched in 2021
The digital printing system AccurioPress C7100 offers automation, efficiency and skill-less functions on par with high-speed machines, but its width has been reduced by about 15% and its weight by about 25% compared to conventional machines.

Digital Printing System
AccurioPress C7100

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Longer Product Life for Office Equipment

The process unit required for Electrophotographic image forming for MFP has a limited lifespan and sometimes needs to be replaced. Konica Minolta has been working to extend the life of MFP drum units, which is particularly short. With the i-Series it has achieved a 20% longer lifespan compared to a previous model (C368). In addition, by also installing a mechanism to predict when the unit is likely to wear out, the customer can now replace the unit at the optimal point and avoid any image defects.

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Conserving Resources with Office Equipment

Non-Image Area Erase function” Saves Toner

When copying a page from a thick book, the lid often needs to remain open, creating a black area around the document. With this function however, the printed page is automatically detected and the surrounding dark area is eliminated. This reduces unnecessary toner use.

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Conserving Resources with Functional Materials

Making Thinner TAC Films to Protect Liquid Crystal Polarizers

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Making Healthcare Products Lighter

Cassette Digital Radiography Systems

Diagnostic Ultrasound Systems