LONDON, April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

- Multimedia release: http://blogit.realwire.com/Ricoh-Europe-takes-the-lead-in-making-everyday-bus iness-processes-more-sustainable

Ricoh Europe, a specialist in office solutions, managed document services and production printing, today launched its unique Sustainability Optimisation programme. The offering, accredited by the British Standards Institution (BSI), helps businesses to improve the efficiency of their document workflows while at the same time taking a carbon balanced approach to managing information.

The Sustainability Optimisation Programme ( http://www.ricoh-europe.com/reduce2grow) is available as a part of Ricoh's Managed Document Services and builds upon its successful Pay Per Page Green consultancy. Sustainability Optimisation enables medium to large organisations to reduce environmental impact and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by more than 30 per cent, govern the sustainable performance of their business documents, and neutralise any remaining, unavoidable carbon emissions.

The programme is a continuous improvement cycle consisting of five stages. First, Ricoh analyses a business's existing document workflows and fleet, to understand the baseline TCO and carbon emissions from paper and energy consumption. Second, a plan is designed to reduce TCO and carbon emissions, setting clear objectives including optimising the fleet, workflows and end-user behaviour. Third, the plan is implemented. Devices with Eco Mode energy-saving settings are installed, workflows are optimised, and end users are educated to enhance their environmental awareness and to understand how to use the devices in the most sustainable way - resulting in an average energy reduction of 36%.

The fourth stage of the programme is governance, which involves continuous tracking of actual carbon emissions versus set goals. By analysing this data Ricoh can identify how each printing device is being used and implement improvements to drive further reductions in carbon emissions.

The final step is to neutralise remaining unavoidable carbon emissions. Businesses can offset the unavoidable carbon emissions through carbon credits[1] generated by clean energy projects in which Ricoh has invested, creating a carbon balanced printing environment.

Generali Switzerland, part of the Fortune 500 global insurance and financial products company Generali Group, is already benefiting from Ricoh's Sustainability Optimisation programme. Through carbon balanced printing, Generali Switzerland's 30 million pages of printing annually - equating to 452 tonnes of carbon - will be neutralised.

"The launch of the Sustainability Optimisation programme is timely, given the increasing pressure on businesses to lower not only costs, but their environmental impact," said Yuji Koyanagi, Vice President Group Marketing, Ricoh Europe. "The workplace is changing, driven by powerful trends - new technologies, changing demographics, globalisation and other economic developments - and Ricoh is committed to helping its customers manage these challenges. Sustainability Optimisation is just one way we're helping our customers be more efficient and sustainable."

Listed for the 7th consecutive year as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations[2], Ricoh is a recognised leader in the development of innovative green offerings. With aggressive targets to be more sustainable and to lower carbon emissions, Ricoh is both reducing the environmental impacts of its own business, and helping its customers do likewise.

Hans Breuker, Senior Manager, BSI, the world's first national standards body which is renowned for its vigorous testing, says: "Our independent audit conclude that Ricoh's method for analysing, continuously optimising, and neutralising carbon emissions from document processing is transparent and robust. Ricoh has developed a best practice offering for businesses seeking to optimise their sustainability."

To find out more about how Ricoh's five step Sustainability Optimisation programme can help businesses save money and reduce carbon, visit http://www.ricoh-europe.com/reduce2grow

For video, images and other materials about Sustainability Optimisation, visit the Ricoh media centre: http://www.ricoh-europe.com/press

About Ricoh Europe

Ricoh Company, Ltd ("Ricoh Company") is a global technology leader, specialising in the office and production printing markets. Ricoh works with organisations around the world to modernise work environments and optimise document efficiency.

With over 108,500 employees worldwide, it operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, China and Japan. Ricoh Europe Holdings Plc is a public limited company and the EMEA headquarters of Ricoh Company with operations located in London, United Kingdom and Amstelveen, the Netherlands. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2010, revenues from Ricoh's EMEA operations totalled over YEN 458.5 billion ($4.5 bn) Ricoh Company's worldwide sales totalled over YEN 2,016 billion ($21bn) during the year ended 31 March 2010.

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[1] Carbon credits are generated from UNFCCC-approved clean energy projects in developing countries.

[2] Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. Visit http://www.global100.org

Home page: http://www.ricoh-europe.com

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SOURCE Ricoh Europe Plc