Canon on Forbes 'Top Genuinely Green Companies' List

Forbes, the magazine which is best known for ranking the world's richest individuals and its most successful corporations has listed Canon, the well-known manufacturer of cameras, photocopiers and other electronics devices as one of the world's top ten most genuinely green companies. With a selection from a very wide spectrum of industries, Forbes singled-out Canon's environmental activities which are at the heart of what it does as a company. These include the Environmental Planning Center and the Environment Promotion Center in the US, which enable Canon to keep track of its environmental performance as well as Canon's publication of an annual sustainability report, published in both English and Japan.

The Background - Canon Already Widely Recognised for its Environmental Leadership

It was only last year that the UK's leading Sunday broadsheet, The Sunday Times, placed Canon as the tenth most environmentally-aware business in its UK-focused survey - The Sunday Times Best Green Comapnies List. One stand-out feature of Canon's UK operations were the outstanding levels of environmental awareness among Canon's Reigate staff, as well as the collective activities of employees when it came to reducing environmental impact by sharing transport to and from work for example.

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) in the US, who are best known for the Energy Star logo which they award to the top 50% of devices for energy efficiency performance, awarded Canon the 2011 Energy Star Award for Excellence in Energy Efficient Product Design. Canon's accomplishment was recognised at a special awards ceremony in Washington DC in April.

Forbes' Insights

As well as highlighting the already widespread recognition for its environmental efforts and the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Award for Excellence, Forbes pointed to Canon's policies at its US corporate headquarters in the US stating,

"The Japanese camera and electronics manufacturer, Canon, has implemented an Environment Planning Center and Environment Protection Center at its Corporate headquarters..."

Forbes commented that is these core institutions which provide the means for Canon to monitor its environmental performance and also pointed to the comprehensive annual sustainability report, published in both Japanese and English, which provides extensive disclosure on Canon's greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions.

Bunji Yano, Senior Director and General Manager at Corporate Communications, Canon USA commented,

"At Canon, our business is driven by the goal of fostering a sustainable environment while delivering world-class digital imaging technologies...This recognition further validates our commitment to the environment and preserving our plant as a whole."

Canon's Environmental Achievements for Office Devices

Even in a part of the electronics industry which is known for oustandingly high levels of energy efficiency when it comes to device running as well as environmentally-conscious design and build, Canon has consistently stood-out for energy-saving and sustainability innovations across all of its devices - from photocopiers and multifunction printers to scanners and desktop printers. For all office equipment, Canon's Life Cycle Assessment System aims to assess and to minimise carbon emissions at every stage of a photocopiers's development - from the processes involved even at a device's conception through to the carbon impact of delivery to the eventual Canon Business Solutions Partner. Some paticular highlights of Canon's efforts when it comes to energy/environmentally-conscious design and build - power consumption on imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers has been cut by 65% relative to equivalent devices even 5-10 years ago and Canon is now the first photocopier manufacturer to be sucessfully deploying 'bioplastic' parts in the construction of all imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers range.

On the centrality of the environment, Canon's Yunichi Yshtake has previously commented,

"Guided by our corporate philosophy of kyosei - 'all people, regardless of race, religion and culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future' Canon's commitment to the environment is reflected in our ongoing efforts to develop products that incorporate sustainable life-cycle planning and improved resource efficiency from the initial concept to post-consumer phases."

Falcon wishes to congratulate Canon on its inclusion in the Forbes Genuinely Green Companies List.

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