MALVERN, Pa., April 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh is proud to announce that it has received the 2019 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award for continued leadership and superior contributions to ENERGY STAR. This year marks the fourth consecutive year Ricoh has been named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year, and the second consecutive year with the Sustained Excellence distinction, which is presented to a partner at the EPA's discretion. This latest accolade acknowledges Ricoh's hard work to foster environmental sustainability in its own operations and evangelize on behalf of sustainability to customers, employees and the larger business community. Ricoh's accomplishments will be recognized by the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., April 11.
"Ethical responsibility to our society and our planet has been absolutely fundamental to Ricoh's identity for decades, and we strive every day to live up to and build upon that legacy," said Donna Venable, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Deputy General Manager, Shared Services, Ricoh Americas. "At a time when environmental sustainability is a top concern for millions – and affects billions – it is incredibly important for companies to take sustained action. As a large, multinational corporation, Ricoh aims to do its part, striving to ensure our own operations embody sustainability while empowering digital workplaces to work smarter – and use energy smarter – with improved processes and ENERGY STAR-certified devices."
Ricoh, an ENERGY STAR partner for imaging equipment since its inception, will be honored for:
- Technology services in support of ENERGY STAR – In its work to empower digital workplaces, Ricoh designs and develops products with ENERGY STAR specifications in mind, creating energy efficiency without sacrificing business productivity. As part of this initiative, Ricoh launched 16 new devices that are ENERGY STAR certified, and 94 percent of all eligible new Ricoh products in 2018 were ENERGY STAR certified.
- Assisting ENERGY STAR product specification development – Ricoh worked closely with the EPA to establish Version 3.0 of the ENERGY STAR imaging equipment specification, offering insights from manufacturers' and customers' points of view. The company provided direct input in shaping Drafts 1 and 2 of the standard.
- Encouraged all employees to take the ENERGY STAR pledge – Ricoh once again emphasized total buy-in, at all organizational levels, for sustainability initiatives. This included encouraging all employees to take the ENERGY STAR pledge, as well as continuing the training and education of approximately 20,000 U.S.-based employees in everyday ways they can contribute to sustainability.
- Evangelizing about ENERGY STAR at the U.N. – During the United Nations' Climate Week 2018 event in New York City, Jake Yama****a, President and CEO of Ricoh Company, Ltd., was invited to keynote. Mr. Yama****a was the first Japanese executive invited to do so in the event's 10-year history, a potential nod to Ricoh becoming the first Japanese company to sign on to the RE100 pledge to source 100 percent of the company's energy from renewable sources. During his time in New York, Mr. Yama****a emphasized Ricoh's work with ENERGY STAR and its Partner of the Year wins during interviews with major media outlets.
- External outreach: customers and beyond – To further help spread ENERGY STAR's message, Ricoh issued nine ENERGY STAR-related press releases in 2018, a 28 percent increase since the previous year, reaching an estimated 742 million readers. Ricoh's website mentions ENERGY STAR 594 times – nearly double as often as it did in 2017 – and Ricoh webpages featuring ENERGY STAR content earned 724,778 views.
- Commitment to continued progress – Globally Ricoh has committed to eliminating its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as part of the RE100 pledge to rely on 30 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Further, Ricoh has joined the EPA SmartWay® Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between the EPA and industry to provide a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chain. Ricoh's work will contribute to the Partnership's overall savings of 248.8 million barrels of oil, $33.4 billion in fuel costs, and 119 million tons of air pollutants, the equivalent of eliminating a year's worth of electricity use in more than 16 million homes. All Ricoh manufacturing and production sites worldwide are ISO 14001 certified for their environmental management system.
"I applaud the 2019 ENERGY STAR Award Winners," said EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum. "Their innovation and leadership enhance America's economic competitiveness. Reducing costly energy waste improves air quality and public health while protecting the environment."
The highest honor among ENERGY STAR Awards is the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence Award. EPA presents the Sustained Excellence Award to partners that have already received ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year recognition for a minimum of two consecutive years and have gone above and beyond the criteria needed to qualify for recognition. Winners hail from small, family-owned businesses to Fortune 500 organizations – representing energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial, and public sectors.
For a complete list of 2019 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR's awards program, visit energystar.gov/awardwinners.
About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions.
Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations—including more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500®—rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped save American families and businesses nearly 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity with associated reductions of over 3 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases. In 2017 alone, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped Americans save $30 billion in energy costs.
More background information about ENERGY STAR can be found at: energystar.gov/about and energystar.gov/numbers.
| About Ricoh |
Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation and is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2018, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 2,063 billion yen (approx. 19.4 billion USD).
For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com