Environmental Strategy
Green Products
Sharp calls its environmentally conscious products ‘Green Products’ (GP). The GP Guidelines, which define development and design criteria in line with seven concepts, have been in use globally across all product design departments since 1998. Similarly, we call our environmentally conscious devices Green Devices (GD) and have established the GD Guidelines, which have been applied across all device design departments since 2004.
In developing such products and devices, Sharp sets specific objectives according to the GP Standard Sheet and the GD Standard Sheet, which are formulated based on the GP Guidelines and the GD Guidelines. In the trial manufacture and mass production stages, it determines how well the actual product or device has met these objectives, with those achieving the standards being awarded GP or GD status.
The content of the GP Standard Sheet and the GD Standard Sheet - the benchmark for development objectives - is revised and made more stringent each year in order to further improve the environmental performance of our products and devices.
Green Product Concepts
Energy Saving / Energy Creating
Products with superb energy-saving / energy creating performance improve the energy efficiency and reduce the energy consumption of products; other measures
Resource Conservation
Products designed to conserve resources reduce the amount of materials used; design products that conserve resources during use; extend the life span of products; other measures
Recycability
Products designed for recycling design products that are easy to disassemble;
use easy-to-recycle materials; other measures
Safe Use and Disposal
Products that can be used and disposed of safety
Do not use substances that negatively affect people's health or the environment;
other measures
Use of Green Materials and Devices
Products that use green materials and devices
Use recycled materials / biomass-based plastics; other measures
Environment Consciousness
Pertaining to Batteries, etc.
Products that use batteries, manuals and packaging with enhanced environmental consciousness
Reduce product packaging; design products that allow easy removal of batteries; other measures
Showing Eco Information of Products
Products that show their environmental performance and information
Acquire environmental labels (eco labels); Implement LCA; other measures
Green Factories
In 2003, Sharp launched a stringent evaluation system for its factories worldwide and consciously subjected them to a strict internal inspection process. Points are awarded by meeting a range of stringent environmental practices, ranging from recycling rainwater to avoidance of landfill waste. The aim is to achieve Super Green Factory status, for which an extremely high points score is required. In 2009, all the Sharp factories in Japan were awarded Super Green Factory status, with Sharp’s high-tech factory in Kameyama coming out top. Kameyama generates most of the energy it needs for production purposes itself from one of Asia’s largest on-roof PV systems with capacity of 5.2 MW. Furthermore, the factory’s remaining energy needs are met by a cutting edge gas-fired heat and power plant, and the waste water is not only used to heat water but also to provide air conditioning.
The Sharp factory in Alsace, France, which manufactures more than one million standard and multifunctional printers a year, achieved this status in July 2006. One of the factory’s core eco-strengths is its stringent approach to sorting waste. Since 2004, all waste materials – batteries, plastic, neon strips, paper, glass or wooden pallets – have been collected and separated., The factory has also made progress in its supply chain and logistics.By switching to a new kind of cardboard, it has reduced the volume of its packaging by half and the weight by about a third, which in turn reduces transport capacity requirements and fuel consumption.
Sharp’s environmental efforts at its factory in Wrexham, North Wales, have also made the headlines. In 2008, the factory was presented with the Wales Business and Sustainability Award in recognition of the solar power and microwave factory’s ambitious steps towards an eco-friendly and sustainable future. The new production processes introduced at the factory focus on the efficient use of resources as well as taking back and recycling old products.
Certification / Label
Environmental Label
A set of different eco labels are available to emphasize varying degrees of environmental consciousness of a product. The requirements to successfully apply for a label are tough. Needless to say many Sharp products are carrying eco labels, such as the “Blue Angel”.
Regulations
As a matter of course Sharp undertakes strong endeavours to comply with legal requirements throughout Europe, such as chemical registration obligations of „REACh”, waste of electrical and electronic equipments „WEEE“, and the restrictions of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment „RoHS“.