'Previous goals no longer appropriate' - Konica Minolta sets 90% circulated resource target

Print vendor revamps sustainability targets

Konica Minolta is aiming to use more than 90 per cent circulated resources for its products by 2050, after admitting that its previous sustainability targets were "no longer appropriate".

In a wider overhaul of its sustainability goals, the managed print giant has also set its sights set on achieving net zero in scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2050.

"When Konica Minolta published its EcoVision 2050 in 2009, the targets were in line with what were strict standards for the time," said Olaf Jonas, General Manager Environmental Social Governance at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe (pictured).

"However, as the climate crisis exacerbates, these are no longer appropriate."

Circulated resources comprise recycled materials and biomaterials.

Currently, the 39,000-employee vendor claims its MFPs and production printing systems already use up to 44 and 15 per cent recycled materials, respectively, and that its toner bottles use up to 61 per cent recycled materials.

It stressed that it is looking for packaging options to replace styrene foam.

Regarding its overall carbon footprint, Konica Minolta claims it more than halved its Co2 emissions between 2005 and 2021, from 2.07 million tonnes to 790,000 tonnes.

The energy consumption of its printing devices has continuously decreased over the last few years, it added. The reduction in power consumption brought about by the new polymerised Simitri V toner used in its latest MFPs stands at up to 25 per cent, according to the vendor.

Where possible, Konica Minolta said that it is trying to shift transport across Europe from air and road to rail or water. Some 90 per cent of its goods transported from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to its main warehouse centre in Emmerich, Germany, are carried out on the Rhine River with barges, it claimed.