Sustainability and Protecting the Environment in Banknote Presses and Printing

COVID has given companies the opportunity to reflect and look at sustainability and the environment with more pressing urgency. There have been webinars and virtual conferences where this topic has been headlining, with paper manufacturers in particular demonstrating their activities to reduce carbon footprints and ensure the future and life cycle of banknotes is protected.

But what about the suppliers that manufacture the equipment to produce the banknotes? They must also look at their carbon footprint and how they can ensure sustainability.

Komori Corporation aims to make the concept of a sustainable society a reality, by actively working at both global and operational levels to achieve its objectives related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) that were adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.

In 2013, we launched the ‘Green Project’ to promote environmental initiatives and activities. This project was an in-house, cross organisational initiative to promote our environmental activities at three levels: 

• Eco-Factory – targeting environmentally friendly production activities and facilities.

• Eco-Communication – aiming to enhance environmental counter measures and management efficiency.

• Eco-Products – involving design and product development activities aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from prototypes by 15%.

Alongside this project ran ‘Komori Eco Vision 2030,’ a set of long-term environmental targets to be met by the end of 2030. These targets consisted of the prevention of global warming, measures for a recycling-based society and biodiversity measures which reduce the risk from chemical substances.

We are working to minimise the impact of our activities on biodiversity, including developing products that, to the maximum extent, can reduce forestry resources, water and fossil fuels.

Komori has two main manufacturing plants in Japan, the Tsukuba Plant in Ibaraki prefecture and the Yamagata Plant in the Tohoku region in Northern Japan. The aim from the outset was a 3% annual reduction in CO2. We have installed solar power generation equipment with a capacity of approximately 500kWh at the Tsukuba Plant and in 2018 nearly 610,000kWh was generated and used within the factory and offices. This equipment was installed on the roof of the factory and is about the size of a football pitch.

Also in December 2018, we upgraded the plant’s air conditioning system to air-cooled heat pump chiller units, which Japan’s Ministry of the Environment certifies as offering the highest level of energy efficiency.

In addition to reducing the amount of gas used in the entire factory by 35%, we were also able to reduce the amount of water used during the summer months by one third. Devices for water conservation have been installed on all plumbing fixtures that use domestic water, which adjusts the rate of flow using water pressure upon use. As a result of these two countermeasures we expect to be able to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 500 tons.

We also reviewed the recycling process for all industrial waste and materials at Tsukuba. This involved improving the separation of waste whilst also persisting with our efforts to achieve zero emissions (zero waste for final disposal at land fill). In 2018 alone, this generated ¥11 million in waste related costs.

These zero emissions, which refer to energy sources emitting no waste products which will pollute or disrupt the environment, are feasible, and Komori has achieved zero industrial waste emissions at all production sites since 2004.

Reducing the impact of the machines

Around 95% of the environmental impact of printing machines come from their usage.

Manufacturers and users can reduce the impact of their equipment through continuous assessment, diligent manufacturing and by introducing technology which reduces the impact which print has on the environment. Technologies are available to reduce make ready times, reduce paper waste and cut the use of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) from printing operations. For example, the dampening systems on Komori offset presses allow alcohol free printing in most instances, and this has huge environmental benefits as well as cost advantages to the customer.

We constantly pursue improvements, such as saving energy and other resources, reusing and recycling, and reducing all waste for corporate activities. For example, water usage of the entire Komori group decreased by 1.2% year-on-year and measures put in place to reduce emissions and use of chemical substances decreased 36.5% year-on-year.

As part of our commitment to actively improve the environment both within and outside of the company, we have established the in house, cross-organisational ‘Green-Project’, which is geared to realising a sustainable world. We reached a record high position, having ranked 45th in the manufacturing industry category of the Nikkei 22nd Environmental Management Survey 2019 results released this year.

But we won’t stop there. Komori primarily manufactures and sells printing presses to printing companies, who in turn pass the printed documents to people around the world, and it is our mission to support this way of life. Therefore, the social responsibility of Komori is one that we believe will greatly contribute to a sustainable society through the development of our products that continue to take the environment into consideration.

KOMORI ECO VISION FOR 2030

1. Four key priority themes:

• Environmentally friendly products

• Eco-business sites

• Eco-communication

• Contribute to the community

2. For all our manufacturing sites, promote energy saving facilities and reduce their environmental impact.

3. Improve our distribution efficiencies with our supply chain and demonstrate to the community that as an organisation we are good corporate citizens:

• Reduce running costs through environmental measures

• Adopt global warming prevention measures

• Ensure preservation of biodiversity Control harmful chemicals

• Enhance the quality of information culture and lifestyles

4. Improve the workplace environment and health & safety by:

• Taking VOC recovery measures

• Reducing ink usage

• Improving energy savings for customers’ existing equipment and the workplace

• Reducing risk from chemical substances

• Recycling – Kaizen