Epson Group Institutes Procurement Policy for Paper Products

Seiko Epson Corporation (“Epson”) has instituted a new procurement management policy and procurement standards focusing on paper products, including plain and photo papers developed for Epson printers. The policies extend all the way back to the forests that produce the wood used in manufacturing the paper.


The Epson Group has established a basic procurement policy and procurement guidelines for all of its products as part of its “green procurement” efforts. The procurement of paper products has followed those basic policies and guidelines as well. However, in the past few years, the importance of preserving the woodlands has become more widely acknowledged, illegal logging has become an increasingly serious problem, and there has been a surge of international efforts aimed at ensuring sustainability in the procurement of wood products. In light of this, the Epson Group decided to unfurl a new procurement policy for paper products–which are of course also wood products–that takes into consideration the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of forests, and to expand the purchase of paper products that can be confirmed as meeting those policy standards.


In order to have expert and objective input into the creation of this policy, the Epson Group invited the participation of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Japan (Address: Nihon Seimei Akabanebashi Building, 6th Floor, 3-1-14 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014, Japan), which was one of five organizations that compiled a “Joint NGO Recommendation on Ecologically Ethical Paper Procurement.” WWF Japan’s goal isto stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. As part of its activities, WWF Japan calls on companies to use wood products in an appropriate way, taking into consideration the balance between the use and conservation of forests. The newly announced procurement strategy incorporates WWF Japan ideas on the use of forest resources and encompasses the legality and sustainability of the entire supply chain.


To facilitate the implementation of this policy, the Epson Group will also be receiving timely and accurate information from WWF, whose network extends to roughly 100 countries worldwide. This will assist Epson in achieving procurement management that reflects both the conditions in wood-producing countries as well as international trends.


By promoting procurement activities that are in line with this policy, the Epson Group intends to achieve a 100% procurement compliance rate by FY2010. In addition, specific procurement management activities will be developed during the current fiscal year for domestically procured paper and from FY2008 for paper procured overseas.


The Epson Group is developing environmental activities worldwide that address various aspects of the issue such as global warming, resource conservation and recycling, and chemical substance management. With paper products as the starting point, we will be working even harder in the future to protect the environment by incorporating environmental considerations into all of our corporation’s products.


Glossary

Procurement compliance rate
The amount of paper products procured that can be confirmed to be in compliance with the procurement policy as a percentage of the total amount of that type of product procured.


Epson Group’s Paper Products Procurement Policy

Legality

If virgin pulp is to be used as a raw material, the raw material wood shall be legal according to the forestry laws of the country in which it is produced, and there shall be no violations of the laws, etc. of the nations or regions with authority at all stages, including production, extraction, processing, shipping and export.


Sustainability

If virgin pulp is to be used as a raw material, the raw material wood shall be produced in a sustainable manner.


Chemical safety

It shall be confirmed that the material does not intentionally contain “chemicals prohibited from inclusion in products” as designated by the Seiko Epson Group. For details, see “SEG Green Purchasing Standard for Production Materials”.


Environmental management

The production plants for the paper products procured shall be managed in environmentally responsible ways.


Link to further information on the Epson Group’s Paper Procurement Policy and Procurement Standards.