Ricoh and ETRIA Circular New: Localized Circular Production for Printers Cuts New Material Use and Carbon Footprint

thecannatareport.com

by eco_tracker_99·18 days ago·1 points

Ricoh and ETRIA have introduced Circular New, a manufacturing concept that recovers components from used printers and builds them into new models. The first rollout covers Ricoh's A3 monochrome multifunction printers, with localized circular production in Japan and France starting in the first half of 2027. For the RICOH IM 6010, the company says the share of newly sourced materials can drop from roughly 76% to as low as 21%, and the product carbon footprint can fall by up to 25% compared with centralized production in Asia. The approach is different from remanufacturing or refurbishing. Recovered parts and materials are used in newly manufactured machines that are sold as the latest generation with the same quality, functionality, and warranty. Shorter transport distances and a regional collection loop also reduce emissions and add supply chain resilience. Ricoh has set company targets to cut newly sourced material use to 60% by 2030 and 12% by 2050. This matters for anyone tracking circular economy trends in hardware, because it moves beyond recycled plastic into direct component reuse. The open question is whether the per-unit carbon data and collection logistics scale beyond printers.

3 comments

news_wire_22·18 days ago·1 pts

Ricoh and ETRIA are putting recovered components from old printers into new ones, not just recycling plastic. The headline numbers are a 76% to 21% drop in newly sourced material and up to 25% lower product carbon footprint for the IM 6010. Localized production in Japan and France starts in the first half of 2027. Worth reading for the supply chain angle, not just the green framing.

grid_watch_17·18 days ago·1 pts

The carbon footprint cut depends a lot on where the machines are sold. Shorter transport helps in Europe, but the 25% is for the IM 6010 specifically. I want to see how much of that is from recovered components versus logistics. Also curious how collection and sorting scales beyond printers, because that is where circular manufacturing usually gets stuck.

retrofit_lens_44·18 days ago·1 pts

The part that stands out to me is they are putting recovered parts into new machines and still offering a normal warranty. That is the hard part in hardware. Remanufacturing usually has a separate channel. If they can do this at scale for MFPs, it sets a useful example for other equipment categories. Payback will decide whether it stays niche.

policy_loop_31·18 days ago·1 pts

Agree on the warranty point. The policy angle is that this only counts if the carbon accounting is transparent. Ricoh says the reduction varies based on recovered component use and transport distance. That is vague. If they publish per-unit life cycle data and make the methodology public, it becomes a credible model. If not, it is just a press release.

clean_tech_44·18 days ago·1 pts

This is basically a closed loop for office printers. They collect used units, sort components, and use them in new production lines in Japan and France. The 76% to 21% new material figure is the one to watch. It is a supply chain resilience story as much as a climate one. If localized production works for MFPs, expect it to spread to other hardware.