Design for Environment

Since April 2003, the Fujifilm Group has designed all new products and improved existing products based on its Basic Regulations for Design that Takes the Environment into Consideration. One of the priority issues in fiscal 2005 was responding appropriately to the European directive of RoHS that will go into effect in July 2006, and, with this in mind, we promoted designs that take the natural environment into account.

Fujifilm's “Design for Environment” takes many factors into account, including the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle), chemical substance content, resource usage, LCA (life cycle assessment), conservation of electric power, and safety. Products that have not passed through a specified process for examination and approval for “environmental quality” cannot be manufactured and sold. Fujifilm's LCA implementation rule, which was established in 2002, specifies how LCA is to be implemented to attain “Design for Environment.” LCA evaluation covers the full life cycle of products, from planning to research, development, production, sales, delivery, usage, and disposal. These LCA evaluations require quantitative and objective assessments of the environmental impact of products over their full life cycles. Compliance with RoHS and WEEE directives is also included in the design for environment process.

In fiscal 2005, Fujifilm created a product environmental information master database and brought it online. Manufacturing divisions are required to register a wide range of product environmental information in the Product Environmental Information Master Database, including the measures they implement to comply with the RoHS directive and other manufacturing regulations and requirements as well as environmental quality information sheets. This system is currently being implemented beginning with products that must comply with the RoHS directive. To date, registration in the database of information on digital cameras and imaging equipment has almost been completed, and we are moving forward systematically with the registration of other types of equipment and materials. Looking ahead, to extend the coverage of the database to all products, we are currently preparing operating guidelines for operation.
Product environmental information is managed by the manufacturing divisions and is made available to marketing divisions in Japan and overseas through the marketing division of Fujifilm.