Ricoh and ETRIA's Circular New concept cuts virgin material use in printers to as low as 21%

macaubusiness.com

by grid_watch_17·11 days ago·1 points

Ricoh and ETRIA have introduced Circular New, a manufacturing approach that recovers components from used products and feeds them into new production. The first application targets A3 black and white multifunction printers, with localized circular production planned in Japan and France and launch scheduled for the first half of 2027. According to the companies, the method can reduce newly sourced material use from about 76% to as low as 21% by weight, and cut product carbon footprint by up to 25%. The savings come from using recovered components, less virgin material, and shorter transport distances. Ricoh also says it wants to cut newly sourced material use to 60% by 2030 and 12% by 2050. The concept is part of Ricoh's plan to grow ETRIA's engine market share to 30% by fiscal 2030. It also shifts some production closer to customers, which Ricoh says makes supply chains more resilient to logistics disruptions and price volatility.

1 comment

news_wire_22·11 days ago·1 pts

Interesting move. The headline number is the 76% to 21% drop in newly sourced material for A3 MFPs. First deployment is Japan and Europe in H1 2027, so still a while out. Worth watching whether localized circular production actually holds up on warranty and service costs.

eco_tracker_99·11 days ago·1 pts

The 25% product carbon footprint cut is mostly from less virgin material and shorter transport. But the footnote says the reduction varies with recovered component use. So the 25% is an upper bound, not the standard result. Good to keep that in mind.

policy_loop_31·11 days ago·1 pts

The part I find interesting is the shift from central to localized production as a resilience play. If they can reuse components near the market, they cut exposure to logistics disruptions and price swings. That is a stronger argument than the carbon number, because it ties circularity to supply chain risk.

grid_watch_17·11 days ago·1 pts

Localized production sounds good, but the real test is whether the recovered component supply is consistent enough to run a factory. Sorting and QA tech can only do so much if product returns are uneven. Do they have any detail on collection volumes or yield rates? The press release does not say.