Tokyo (December 11, 2013) - Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) is pleased to announce that the company and its worldwide production subsidiaries have been recognized by the Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, with a “2013 Environment Minister's Award for Global Warming Prevention Activity (Implementation of Countermeasures)” in recognition of the group-wide initiatives to prevent global warming through its original Green Factory Certification System.

The Ministry of Environment has been giving the Environment Minister's Award for Global Warming Prevention Activity since 1998 to honor individuals or groups that have made significant contributions toward preventing global warming annually in December, designated as Global Warming Prevention Month, as part of its efforts for promoting countermeasures against global warming.

Konica Minolta was honored at the award ceremony in Tokyo on December 4, 2013.

In 2009 Konica Minolta established Eco Vision 2050, a set of long-term goals that looks all the way out to the year 2050, including the target of an 80% reduction in product lifecycle CO₂ emissions by 2050, compared to a fiscal 2005 baseline. The Medium-Term Environmental Plan 2015 establishes major objectives and specific goals to be implemented by the target year of fiscal 2015. Konica Minolta is committed itself to the “Three Green Activities” that will help it reach those goals around the globe. The Green Factory Certification System, one of the “Three Green Activities,” comprehensively evaluates the environmental activities of Konica Minolta's production sites.

The Green Factory Certification System has been in operation since 2010. The purpose of this system is to bring costs down and reduce environmental impact by developing activities in line with each business's production strategy. The system has two levels of targets. The Level 1 targets for fiscal 2011 are preliminary goals representing milestones on the way to the Level 2 targets, which are to be achieved by fiscal 2015. A production site^*1 is certified as “Green Factory” when it meets respective requirements for each of the Levels.

In the Green Factory Certification System, the specific requirements for global warming prevention are: 12% reduction in CO₂ emissions (per unit of production^*2) for the Level 1 and 20% reduction for the Level 2, compared to a fiscal 2005 baseline^*3. To implement such aggressive CO₂ emissions reduction, Konica Minolta has brought together the wisdom and know-how in energy-saving initiatives and designed an extensive set of guidelines with about 150 items. The guidelines have helped improve quality of activities at the production sites. The company also implemented Energy Conservation Support Program that employs internal experts in plant engineering, production line design and energy management. Those experts visit worldwide production sites and look in every nook and cranny, including the status of energy management, air conditioners, boilers and other utility systems, and production equipment, as well as specifications of the equipment and the systems. These experts then propose measures tailored to each site for further energy conservation. The experts and local teams at the sites use these proposals to enhance energy-saving efforts and draw up detailed plans for implementation. It is Konica Minolta's strengths that the company has an internal group of energy-saving experts and makes the most of their advanced knowledge across diversified business fields.

As a result of the activities, in fiscal 2011, all production sites achieved Level 1 certification. In fiscal 2012, five production sites (two in China and three in Japan) became the first to attain Level 2. Among the Konica Minolta Group, CO₂ emissions from manufacturing in fiscal 2012 were 100,000 tons less than what it would have been if the emissions reduction efforts had not been made since 2005.

Going forward, various energy-saving measures will be implemented so that all production sites meet Level 2 requirements, while factories which have already attained Level 2 keep working on additional emissions reduction activities.

Under the communication message “Giving Shape to Ideas,” Konica Minolta is determined to create environmental innovation at each stage in its business process, from product development to production, distribution, sales and service, and collection and recycling, deliver products and services that respond to global social needs and contribute to protection of environment in the world.

*1

An organization engaged in the same production activities across different locations is certified as one production site (business unit).

*2

Per unit of production: Environmental impact in terms of production output or production volume.

*3

The base year is fiscal 2005. Based on this (base year) figure, standards tailored to factory characteristics are established.

For additional information on Konica Minolta's sustainability efforts, please visit
//www.konicaminolta.com/about/csr/environment

Green Factory Certification Standards
//www.konicaminolta.com/about/csr/environment/progress/green-factory.html