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Nikkei Ecology

April 2005 Issue

Cover Story 1

Ricoh’s robust environmental management tells us important values of profit assurance, full participation of staff members and information sharing

Environmental plan tightly linked with management plan
Aiming to revolutionize environmental management

Techniques to win customers with products’ environment-friendliness
Using the knowledge and skills for environmental measures as a sales tool

Production reform to ensure both environmental and financial benefits
Reducing the environmental burden with craftsmanship

Efficient use of numerical indicators
Building a system that gives incentive to employees

Dilemmas at the frontline of the environmental management
Internal and external barriers for the sales of environment-friendly coping machines

Cover Story 2

Trends and possible measures of the Kyoto Protocol
Projecting the post-Kyoto scene

Technology Frontline

Trend
[Chromate-free steel sheets] Eradication of hexavalent chromium is making progress to cope with the EU regulations

Elements
[Ionic liquids] Salts that do not solidify at the room temperatures

Products
[Vending machines with a heat pump] Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. realizes 35% reduction of electricity consumption from the conventional models

Technology & people
[Hiroshi Shimizu, Keio University] Working for diffusion of electric vehicles

“ Honor students” in recycling
[Waste tires] Gasification realizes energy and material recovery

Technology News Clips

Learn about environmental laws

Easy-to-understand Environmental Law
[Waste Management and Public Cleaning Law (Waste Disposal Law)] Enforcement ordinances and regulations are revised including obligatory signs to place on trucks carrying industrial waste

Environmental Laws Q & A
What is the reason for the deregulation of small-sized incinerators?

This Month’s Environmental Law
Generation of household and industrial waste is reduced slightly in fiscal 2002

Kenichiro Sato’s Report from the Diet
All-out efforts are made to review the Yanba Dam construction plan

Trend and News

Global warming
After the Kyoto Protocol was finally enacted, Japan shows enthusiasm in future framework negotiation

Global warming
Reduction targets for the Achievement Plan are disclosed including 8.6% reduction by 2010 for industrial sectors

Water pollution
Incident caused by JFE’s sloppy environmental management casts dark clouds over recycling businesses

Recycling of containers and packages
Details of tender information are to be disclosed in order to increase the transparency of the system in question

EMS for small- and medium-sized businesses
The first certificate of the new system led by the Ministry of the Environment is acquired with a cost of 250,000 yen

Pollen allergy
How effective is the “national project” to protect the people from the unprecedented scale of pollen attack?

Environmental policy
Is the change from “state aids” to “state subsidies” to the local government to build a recycling-based society going to transform the waste treatment policies?

Nature conservation
The Shirakami Mountain Range commercializes the “forest conservation brand” products in an attempt to catch up with the other world heritage sites

CSR Frontline
New SRI fund indicators are developed with “women” as a keyword to assess corporations

The Davos Forum in 2005 chooses global environmental issues as one of the main themes with high priority

Kyoto Mechanism
Q&A to Understand the Kyoto Mechanism
What is the mechanism to decide the value of emission right; why is it 520 yen/ t CO₂?

ECO Interview
Masamitsu Sakurai, President of Ricoh Co., Ltd.: “Environmental activities are virtually identical with productivity improvement activities”


ECO Column

Kankan Gakugaku (Active Argument over Environmental Issues)
Ukyo Katayama, racing driver

Takuro Morinaga’s ECO Lifestyle
“ Yutanpo” (hot-water bottle) has been the hero of eco life since the time of Shogun

Fieldwork Japan
The Tokyo Bay area fosters an increasing number of eco spots


Report

Vice-Rector Itaru Yasui’s “Eco Michelin”
Electronic dictionary

Achieve the Top Sales with Eco Products!
NEC / Refreshed PC

Inside-Out

[Digging up waste from landfills - part 4]
Rigorous examination of the current situation is a crucial key for success

WorldWatch Institute
The U.S. government speaks for the bio-industry while GM crops flood the world

ECO Seminar

How to make the best use of ISO
[Efforts by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. part 2] Acquirement of environmental labels is set as a target to give incentive to the development divisions

Quick Guide to Environmental Key Words
3Rs

Learn from Environmental Reports of Companies Overseas
Suncor Energy Inc. (Canada) - part 2

World Trend

From EU
The influence of the EU enlargement on its environmental policy depends on the regulation-complying ability of new member states

From UK
Participation of the airline industry in the emission right trading needs solution for mounting problems including calculation method of greenhouse gasses

From USA
Signs from wildlife may be used to establish an early tsunami warning system

From Germany
Deutschland in Japan 2005/2006 is about to start, providing both countries with opportunities to discuss sustainable future

From China
Water quality improvement projects progress in 10 cities while untreated wastewater from households is causing widespread water pollution

Nikkei BP EcoManagement Forum

[ECO graph]
Suggestions on the environmental management after the effectuation of the Kyoto Protocol