Ricoh and ETRIA have launched Circular New, an initiative to produce latest-generation multifunction printers near points of consumption using parts and resources from collected products. As the first phase, they will reduce the virgin resource usage rate for products manufactured in Japan and France to approximately 21%.
Circular New is a manufacturing concept designed to view design, production, use and collection as a single cycle. Rather than remanufacturing collected products, it uses resources and parts as they are to produce new machines. Based on this concept, Ricoh and ETRIA are incorporating longer part life, standardisation and ease of disassembly from the design stage of imaging equipment, while also using technology to digitally track and utilise the condition of parts.
On the production side, in addition to conventional centralised production, the companies are establishing a system to collect resources at sites near points of consumption and cycle them into new products. As the first phase, the Gotemba Site in Japan and ETRIA MANUFACTURING FRANCE have begun local production, with shipments of products manufactured in Japan and France scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027.
The first-phase models are Ricoh's A3 monochrome multifunction printers, the RICOH IM 6010/4510/3510/2510. The virgin resource usage rate is expected to be approximately 21% for production in Japan and France, and production of new machines using collected parts is said to be an industry first.
The Ricoh Group has set a long-term goal of reducing its virgin resource usage rate to 60% in 2030 and 12% in 2050, and aims to achieve a 30% engine share for ETRIA by 2030. Circular New is positioned as a pillar of the group's growth strategy.