OREANDA-NEWS. April 21, 2011. Ricoh Company, Ltd. (President and CEO: Shiro Kondo) today announced that it will launch a product line with highly effective energy conservation, along with a new eco solutions business which uses these products to provide solutions. As a first step, the new business will penetrate the LED illumination market.

The Eco Solutions Business

Ricoh has focused on ЃgEnvironmental ManagementЃh, achieving environmental conservation while at the same time generating profits, and has energetically promoted environmental burden reduction initiatives. For example, in its mainstay multifunction products and printers, Ricoh carries out production using recycled resources, to greatly reduce new extraction of ores and fossil resources from the global environment. The company is also progressing with advanced environmental technology development, to reduce and replace materials at great risk of becoming exhausted, and chemicals that carry risks for people and the environment.
RicohЃfs eco solutions business makes full use of these proprietary environmental technologies. The company will launch to market a new product line with highly effective energy conservation, providing customers with solutions which contribute to reducing the global environmental burdens. Initially, with LED illumination as the core of this new business, the focus will be on ESCO business* activities including multifunction products and printers. Ricoh believes that this will contribute to achieving a sustainable society.

*Ѓ@ESCO business: Provides comprehensive services needed to achieve energy conservation in buildings and factories, and contribute to customer profits and global environmental conservation. The business guarantees energy conservation results, and obtains fees according to those results.

Entering the LED Illumination Market

Amid a growing interest in global environmental protection, large market growth is expected for LED illumination, which consumes less electricity and generates lower CO2 emissions than traditional incandescent and fluorescent lamps. As a first step for its eco solutions business, Ricoh is entering the LED illumination market utilizing its unique technologies and global sales and services network,.
In response to energy conservation regulations, a growing demand is expected for LED illumination in office environments. In a first phase, Ricoh will start selling straight tube type LED illumination in July 2011. The company aims to further reduce CO2 reductions at customer office sites, by providing multifunction products and printers which conserve energy while providing LED illumination.
The LED business is aiming at sales of 10 billion yen in the first fiscal year (FY2011) in the global market, and at least 100 billion yen in FY2013.