Konica Minolta’s Environmental Activities
Cooperation with Domestic Companies to Solve Environmental Issues
(Environmental Digital Platform)
Background and Issues
With growing public demands to address environmental problems such as climate change and resource depletion, corporations are expected to carry out environmental activities that not only minimize risks but also promote business growth. To do this, companies need to reach beyond their own organizations and share value with customers, local communities, and other stakeholders. By promoting activities together, companies and their stakeholders can raise their level of contribution to global environment preservation throughout the value chain.
Vision
Global environmental problems are pressing challenges facing the whole world and cannot be solved by the isolated efforts of individual companies. Recognizing this, Konica Minolta has already opened up its reservoir of expertise in environmental management for business growth and cost reduction, has been sharing it with many other companies through digitization of our expertise.
Konica Minolta is in the process of digitally sharing its environmental expertise with a base of more than 1,200 companies that it has built through its sustainable marketing activities. By allowing these companies to share their environmental knowledge with each other and by providing a place to collaborate and create new value, Konica Minolta believes it can dramatically increase its contribution to environment. Konica Minolta launches the Environmental Digital Platform, aiming to help reduce the environmental impact of industry and society as a whole. The platform will enable companies to share and utilize their outstanding environmental technologies and expertise that Japanese companies have amassed.
Pilot run Trial operation of the Environmental Digital Platform began in June 2020 with 16 companies participating. The platform was expanded to full-scale operations in December 2020, with 85 companies participating as of May 2024. Konica Minolta aims to drive innovation with a co-creation approach in which companies share and utilize the knowledge and expertise they have acquired through practice and efficiently resolve environmental issues in mutual cooperation. The expertise on environmental strategies and renewable energy held by the participating companies, consulting and software for energy conservation diagnosis, and solutions that can be put into use immediately such as environmental products, are shared. Konica Minolta also helps match companies who can help each other solve their respective issues. Konica Minolta hopes that the broad use of this service by companies other than the participating companies can help solve environmental issues on an even bigger scale.
Key Measures and KPIs
Target: Create new contributions to CO2 reductions by fiscal 2022
Overview of the Activities
The Environmental Digital Platform, which not only shares expertise but offers its results to a broad section of society, consists of the Environmental Solution Co-Creation Service, which brings together the knowledge of participating companies on issues that are difficult for a single company to solve on its own so that new solutions can be created, and the Environmental Solution Provision Service, in which participating companies share and utilize the environmental expertise they put into practice. The information that is shared is then made visible with the Environmental Management Navigation MAP (Guideposts for Solutions). Wide use of the Environmental Management Navigation makes it possible for companies to solve their own environmental issues. Konica Minolta has also launched talk room and troubleshooting support where users can seek advice and have their concerns addressed, thereby actively facilitating communication among the participating companies. Going forward, Konica Minolta will help to resolve environmental issues on a global scale by promoting digitalization, increasing the number of participating companies, building up data, and expanding the Platform as a DX business.
Click here to visit the Environmental Digital Platform website（Japanese website）
The information user membership system is provided free of charge. (Available only in Japan)
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Environmental Digital Platform
Activities
Opportunities for Customer Interaction (Symposium)
In December 2023, we held the Environmental Digital Platform Symposium, attended by 94 customers from 48 corporate participants in the Environmental Digital Platform. Introductory speeches were given by all participating companies, followed by presentations of examples of effective platform use by representative companies. We received extensive feedback, including comments such as, “The results exceeded our expectations. The fresh and detailed information was unparalleled,” “The information on other companies was very helpful in convincing and persuading those in our company,” and “The networking led to new business opportunities.” The reception provided an opportunity for participants to exchange business cards and deepen friendships with the aim of solving problems through cross-company collaboration.
Opportunities for Customer Interaction (Factory Tours)
We conducted two factory tours in fiscal 2022 and one in fiscal 2023. The first tour was of the Nara Plant in collaboration with Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd., an Environmental Digital Platform participant. Twenty-four people in charge of promoting energy conservation from various companies attended and shared examples of energy conservation measures and discussed issues and effective practices for promoting energy conservation. Afterwards, 12 participants, mainly those in charge of resource recycling from each company, took a tour of the Konica Minolta MFP recycling plant. The participants toured the MFP/consumables collection and recycling system, which is an industry initiative, and discussed how resources should be collected and recycled, as well as related issues.
These tours help to further utilize each company’s knowledge, expertise, and information, and contribute to swiftly solving problems at each company.
Tour of the Nara Plant of Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd.
Tour of Konica Minolta’s MFP recycling operation
Voice of a Customer | Lion Corporation
The Lion Group has formulated “LION Eco Challenge 2050,” its long-term environmental goals, and is working to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by promoting “eco-friendly living habits” created together with consumers, or in other words, “eco-friendly lifestyles.” This will contribute to achieving a decarbonized and resource recycling society by making life more sustainable without hardship.
Since January 2021, Lion has participated in the Environmental Digital Platform and expanded its opportunities to hold discussions that transcend various corporate and industry boundaries. In the Energy Saving Working Session, employees gained new insights by learning about the viewpoint and solution methods of "energy saving for factories" accumulated through each company's practices in pursuit of carbon neutrality. At Lion, we also revitalized the energy-saving activities of our workplaces. In addition, we will start discussing contributions to CO2 reduction (Scope 4), a key element in reporting the results of a company’s environmental activities. I look forward to communicating the results of our forward-looking activities to the world. I would like to actively participate in discussions and assist everyone.
Takaki Ikenishi
Sustainability Promotion Department
Lion Corporation
