Improving the Resource Efficiency and Resource Circulation of Products and Product Recycling
Improving the Resource Efficiency and Resource Circulation of Products
Our Approach
As risks that threaten the sustainability of society and companies continue to rise, such as environmental destruction due to resource depletion and excessive mining, major fluctuations in resource costs around the world, and concerns about the supply of rare metals, the European Commission (EC) has established a new Circular Economy Action Plan (2.0) as a growth strategic pillar of the European Green Deal and is moving forward with measures to accelerate further implementation of resource efficiency into society. For example, the EC has proposed the Circular Electronics Initiative as a priority area, as well as maintenance for the eco design directive, and is promoting a circular economy through the entire life cycle of products. This is a growing trend all over the world. We believe that from the perspective of recycling resources, it is important for us to make efficient use of the resources in the ICT products that we provide to customers. We have engaged in a 3R design that draws on the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, and have developed our products with technology that is effective in reducing the amount of resources we use. We are also making efforts to improve resource efficiency and reduce our environmental burden by designing products to be lighter and smaller, using recycled plastics, reducing the number of parts, enhancing ease of disassembly, and improving recyclability. Our goal is to offer such products so that they provide even the customer with benefits, whether it be by making these products smaller, more lightweight, or designing them so they take up less space.
FY 2021 Performance
Targets under the Fujitsu Group Environmental Action Plan (Stage X) | Results for FY 2021 |
---|---|
Promoting improved resource conservation and recycling in our products and increasing resource efficiency in new products by 10% or more (compared to FY 2019). | Improved by 10.1% |
Improving the Resource Efficiency of New Products
In FY 2012, the Fujitsu Group created its own definition of resource efficiency, as the Group had previously not had a system that could comprehensively and quantitatively evaluate improvements in resource efficiency, and due to the fact that there were as of yet no public indices that could measure resource efficiency.
In FY 2020, we continued to use our indicators to evaluate products newly developed by Fujitsu, and worked to reduce product part quantities and reduce product size through smaller, thinner, and lighter parts and higher-density mountings.
We Improved Resource Efficiency by 10.1%
By reducing the size and weight of our servers, PCs, network devices, and imaging devices, in FY 2021 we were able to improve resource efficiency by 10.1% with respect to efficiency in FY 2019.
Working Toward Targets in the Fujitsu Group Environmental Action Plan (Stage X)
To achieve the targets set in the Fujitsu Group Environmental Action Plan, Fujitsu will continue current initiatives, while expanding development of new lightweight, rigid materials and the use of recycled materials. We will also widely publicize the eco-friendliness of our products in order to expand sales.
REFERENCE INFORMATIONDefinition and Calculation of Resource Efficiency
Examples of Initiatives in FY 2021
1FINITY T700
Featuring state-of-the-art optical transport technology, the 1FINITY T700 has improved resource efficiency and reduced energy consumption
The 1FINITY series are optical transport systems that support telecommunications carrier systems. Optical transport equipment transmits information and it sends data. The 1FINITY series separates the functionality of conventional optical transport equipment to enable capital investment suitable for the scale of the network, continuous network evolution, minimization of running costs, and flexible operation.
We have developed the 1FINITY T700 as part of the 1FINITY series. The 1FINITY T700 Transport Blade is capable of long-distance transport at 400 Gbps*. The 1FINITY T700 is equipped with state-of-the-art optical transport technology and it allows flexible optical path (line) management.
From an environmental perspective, the 1FINITY T700 reduces the environmental burden in terms of both resource and energy conservation. The components of the 1FINITY T700 are smaller, fewer in number, consolidated, and modular, improving resource efficiency with respect to performance by 40.0% compared to previous models. Moreover, the use of industry-leading reduced power consumption technology has reduced power consumption with respect to transport performance by 45% compared to previous models.
The 1FINITY T700 features state-of-the-art optical transport technology and improved resource efficiency. Through this system, we will help to create an affluent society.
Gbps*: A unit of data transport speed that indicates how many gigabits of data can be sent per second
Product Recycling
Our Approach
The Fujitsu Group's recycling activities are based on the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which holds producers responsible for product design and manufacturing as well as disposal and recycling, and the concept of Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR), which holds a company responsible for its own products. Fujitsu is certified for area-wide disposal of industrial waste based on the Act to Promote Effective Utilization of Resources in Japan. In accordance with these concepts, Fujitsu Recycling Centers around Japan are entrusted to properly dispose of industrial waste, and one of Fujitsu’s voluntary management indicators is "to reuse at least 90% of the resources in its ICT products for businesses."
Changes in Resource Reuse Rates of End-of-life Business ICT Products
Item | FY 2019 | FY 2020 | FY 2021 |
---|---|---|---|
Resource reuse rate (%) | 91.1 | 91.6 | 92.9 |