Ricoh and ETRIA Plan to Cut New Material Use in Printers From 76% to 21% Through Circular Production

Ricoh and ETRIA are shifting from traditional manufacturing to a circular model called Circular New. Instead of relying mostly on virgin materials, they plan to recover and reuse components and resources from printers already in the market. The company says this can cut newly sourced materials in new printers from about 76% down to as low as 21%, while also reducing the product carbon footprint by up to 25% thanks to localized production in Japan and France. The first rollout is scheduled for the first half of 2027 and will cover A3 monochrome multifunction printers. Ricoh says customers will get the same latest-generation models with identical warranties and performance. The approach still needs to prove itself at scale, but it shows how remanufacturing and modular design can cut both material demand and emissions in the office equipment sector.