Seiko Epson to Cut 90% of its CO2 Emissions by 2050

Seiko Epson Corp., a major electronics manufacturer, unveiled its long-term environmental direction, Environmental Vision 2050, in a press conference held in Brussels, Belgium, on June 2, 2008. Under this plan, Epson aims to reduce its CO2 output by 90 percent across the lifecycle of all products and services by 2050, and to work towards restoring and protecting biodiversity together with local communities.

Understanding that CO2 emissions must be kept within the Earth's absorptive capacity and that everyone has the right to emit CO2 equally while striving to reduce emissions, Epson set the 90 percent reduction target, by taking into account the projected population ratio of 2050. Measures to reach this goal include providing more compact, energy-saving products, establishing a "resource reuse and recycling loop", and right-sizing its manufacturing facilities.

The company's CO2 emissions totaled 907,000 tons in fiscal 2007, after decreasing by more than 200,000 tons over the previous four years. The reduction target is, however, too ambitious to be achieved by simply maintaining current efforts. Epson aims to move toward using a technique known as "backcasting" to envision its desired future, to determine further goals and to devise actions needed for the future.

http://www.epson.co.jp/e/community/environment/next.htm
http://content.epson-europe.com/environment/environmental-vision/
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Posted: 2008/10/11 05:37:28 PM