Fujitsu Group Article: Going Green Saving the Environment
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Fujitsu Group Article: Going Green Saving the Environment
A somewhat Japanese-centric view of Fujitsu's environmental efforts. Mentions for Vietname, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, but not for Europe, Africa or the Americas.
Text of Article
Although many companies view environmentalism as a luxury rather than a necessity, here's an electronic giant that thinks otherwise.
Article is written by Chuah Khai Lin.
A leader in the IT industry, Fujitsu is harnessing its technologies and creativity to contribute to sustainable development. Fujitsu attaches great importance to the environmental compatibility of its products. This end-toend strategy spans the entire lifecycle of the products, from development to the selection of materials and production, right through to recycling.
"Preserving the Earth is among the most pressing issues faced by the human race. We at Fujitsu are practicing environmental management in our day-to-day operations because we feel that responding to environmental issues is a prerequisite for management. I firmly believe that the essence of environmental management boils down to actions taken by individual employees who are aware of their responsibilities as citizens of Earth" stressed Mr Naoyuki Akikusa, Chairman of Fujitsu Ltd, in one of his key speeches.
Based on the principle of "Manufacturing in Harmony with Nature’, Fujitsu has been actively pursuing environmental activities since its establishment. Their environmental programmes include the establishment of zero-emission plants, the creation of eco-friendly products, introduction of environmental technologies, implementation of an environmental management system and environmental accounting.
Environmental Certification ISO 14001
Fujitsu has also implemented an environmental management system in compliance with ISO 14001 as the basis for all of its business operation. In March 2004, Fujitsu’s corporate office as well as the Sales and Soft Service division were given the ISO14001 certification. This entire ISO certification activity involved about 48,000 employees, making it Japan’s largest single ISO certification.
Overcoming obstacles
As expected, embarking on this green journey is not an easy task. Some of the obstacles Fujitsu faced were - difficulties to quantify and assess the positive environmental impact of Fujitsu’s environmental activities, and replacing of hazardous substances in some of Fujitsu’s parts. Fujitsu overcame the former by developing environmental indicators at an early stage. In fact, they are the first to promote the use of indicators with environmental efficiency factor calculation method to assess environmental improvement effects quantitatively. Fujitsu is also involved in the Eco-efficiency Examination Committee sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to develop a new approach for a specialised environmental indicator called the Eco-efficiency Factor. The Eco-efficiency Factor will be used to measure the delivery of competitively priced products and services that are able to satisfy consumer needs while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource consumption throughout the life cycle of the product. With that in place, Fujitsu will be able to evaluate environmental burdens and service performance of existing products, plus measure any relative improvements in any upcoming products. As for replacement of hazardous substances in some of Fujitsu’s products, Fujitsu overcame it by making some significant changes in the production process.
Reforestation projects in Southeast Asia
To extend their environmental efforts beyond factory operations, the Fujitsu Eco Club was established in June 2001. The purpose of this club is to help employees promote and organise voluntary environmental activities. Fujitsu placed very heavy emphasis on enlisting every employee’s voluntary participation to protect the green Earth.
For the past several years, Fujitsu has been conducting reforestation projects in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. In 2002, the Fujitsu Group Malaysia Eco-Forest Park in Sabah, East Malaysia was opened. The project is being funded through the contributions and volunteer activities of executives, employees, the workers union and many others from the Fujitsu Group, which totals more than 10,000 people. Once the forestation is completed, administration of the park will be transferred to Sabah Forestry Development Authority. The entire area will be designated as "eco-forest park’ and will be use for environmental studies and eco-tourism. In Vietnam, 200,000 trees were planted and it is estimated to have absorbed CO2 approximately equivalent to the amount generated by 571 households in 2002.
The 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Even consumers are not left out in their quest for a greener environment. Fujitsu installed a comprehensive recycling programme for customers, whereby old computers and notebooks are collected, disassembled and recycled using Fujitsu’s recycling centres around Japan. In the year 2002, Fujitsu collected an amazing12,380 tonnes of recycled products and achieved a resources reuse rate of 84.1%. This result represented a decline of 1% in the resources reuse rate compared with the preceding year due to a rise in the volume of waste plastic consisting unidentified materials collected. To rectify this problem, more identification machines for plastic waste materials will be installed.
Today there is increasing global recognition of the need to address the environmental burden created by the disposal of computer and consumer electronics products. Taking into consideration trends in environmental regulation outside Japan and varying conditions of each country, Fujitsu will be establishing recycling systems in Europe by the end of fiscal 2004 and in North America and Asia by the end of fiscal 2006. So, it won’t be too long from now to see a Fujitsu recycling scheme in your neighbourhood.
Recognition & Awards
In recognition of their environmental efforts in reforestation activities and superior environment-related technology, Fujitsu has received numerous awards and commendations. Some of the awards Fujitsu had garnered over the years include FTSE4 Good Global Index, 2002 Resources Circulation Technology and System Recognition and Top Ten Workplaces in Philippines Region IV, just to name a few.
Fujitsu has definitely set a very good example for many giant corporations out there. As you can see, being environmentally friendly isn’t just for the tree huggers - it’s for everyone who wants to make a positive change for the future generations.
