Seiko Instruments Inc. (Abbreviation: SII; President, COO & CFO: Yukihiko Chayama; Head Office: 1-8 Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture; Tel: 043-211-1111) is enhancing its commitment toward eco-products. With even tighter certification standards for the SII Green Product label introduced in December 2001, SII aims to increase its 35.5% SII Green Product share ratio achieved in 2003 to 50% in 2004 and 70% in 2005.
SII introduced the SII Green Product label system which corresponds to self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labeling) of ISO 14021 in December 2001. Each product is rated independently in terms of environmental compatibility based on a five-point assessment scale which includes criteria such as energy conservation, resource saving and chemical substance use, and only those products that receive an average score of 3.5 or higher are certified as SII Green Products.
Notable features of the SII Green Product label system include the incorporation of a “Top Runner” Approach (*1) in assessment standards, and the maintenance of objectivity through the reevaluation and revision of the assessment standards once every two years by developers and designers who continually monitor the top level status. With developers and designers from all operating departments involved in green product certification, the products are inspected fairly and objectively from a broad perspective and company aspects such as interdepartmental information exchange and performance matching are promoted.
With two years having passed since system introduction, SII has revised and tightened up the standards. The new revisions take into consideration the properties of SII products, with the addition of “total elimination of harmful substances” as a new criterion for all product fields. Specifically, SII did its best effort to eliminate the content of substances such as cadmium, lead and mercury in all products, and resource saving assessment criteria not only for the products themselves but also for energy saving level of SII machine tools at customer sites.
In 2003, the percentage of sales of SII Green Products reached 35.5%. In particular, the percentage of sales of general consumer products such as electronic dictionaries and data communication cards exceeded 70% and that of electronic components including semiconductors reached 30%. By adding categories such as measurement and analysis instrumentation and portable information devices as certified product fields and steadily increasing the genres in product fields certified to date, SII will continue its commitment to eco-friendliness in a wide variety of product fields.
With future products as well, SII will further enhance its commitment to eco-products by living up to its obligations implicit in SII Green Product certification and enacting LCA (*2) based quantitative assessment criteria.
Note:
(*1) Top Runner Approach: A concept incorporated based on the “Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy (Energy Conservation Law)” enacted in April 1999. Energy conservation standards of each appliance are specified in the Energy Conservation Law (such as automobiles, air conditioners, televisions, copiers, magnetic disks, refrigerators, and gas and kerosene appliances) as a value greater than or equal to the performance level of the currently commercialized product with the best energy consumption ratio. In the SII Green Product system, each SII product is rated based on a five-point assessment scale, and only those products that receive an average score of 3.5 or higher are certified as SII Green Products. Those products that receive a score of 5 points are considered to be Top Runner level products.
(*2) LCA: Abbreviation for “Life Cycle Assessment.” LCA is a technique for quantitatively evaluating the environmental impact of a product through its life cycle, from raw material acquisition to product production, distribution, use and disposal. This technique is used as a basis for product improvements.
Photographs (SII Green Product label and representative SII Green Products)
·SII Green Product label design concept:
The sphere emerging above a watery surface expresses SII’s commitment to ensuring a rich environment and the comprehensiveness of corporate principles.
·Electronic dictionary “SR-T6700”:
Achieved top level resource saving with its weight reduced design (16% weight reduction compared to conventional SII products).
·Semiconductor voltage regulator “S-1170 series”: Enables the production of digital signal equipment such as portable information devices featuring high reliability, power saving, miniaturization and lightweight designs.
·Fluorescent x-ray analyzer “SEA1000A”:
A device used for the analysis of hazardous substances such as lead and cadmium defined in the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive (RoHS). Achieved reduced power consumption while enabling high-speed measurement.
Contact Information
Seiko Instruments Inc.
Corporate Communications Group
Arai
Fax:+81-43-211-8011
Seiko Instruments Inc.
Corporate Environmental Administration Group
Tsukada,Higuchi
Fax:+81-43-211-8019