Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") has published its Sustainability Report 2007 outlining the Epson Group’s community and environmental activities in fiscal 2006.

Subtitled "Our Promise: Creativity and Challenge," Sustainability Report 2007 also details the results of trust-based management initiatives, which form part of the Epson Group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

A special feature of this year’s report is its revised format. The document is now divided into five sections according to the stakeholders who are the target of our activities – Customers, Environment, Employees, Suppliers, and Society – and the title of each section carries a key phrase from our Management Philosophy. This format was chosen to reflect the priority we place on our stakeholders.

As a manufacturer, Epson aims to satisfy and impress its customers with the products and services it provides. In addition to ensuring product safety and considering ease of use and universal design principles, we work to offer energy-saving and environmentally responsible products and to improve after-sales service provided in conjunction with their use.

As part of our efforts to directly link ecology and economy, we are working to reduce environmental impact at every stage of the product life cycle: planning/design, materials procurement, manufacturing, transport, use, and recovery/recycling.

We have succeeded in reducing CO2 emissions per unit of sales by 50% compared to fiscal 1990 levels. In fiscal 2003 the total volume of emissions stood at 1.11 million tons, but annual reductions saw this figure drop to 950,000 tons in fiscal 2006.

Product design initiatives to facilitate resource reduction and recycling included the development of products using paper certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council, the Japanese market launch of recycled ink cartridges produced by recovering and refilling used cartridges, and the use of biomass plastic in ink cartridge parts for large-format inkjet printers.

Epson set a target of reducing substances subject to pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) control to 30% below fiscal 2002 levels, but achieved a much greater reduction of
55%. Epson introduced its E-Chem chemical data management system at all of its 34 manufacturing sites worldwide, completing the establishment of a unified management system for chemical data.

In France, Epson launched a toner cartridge recovery program incorporating donations to the French Red Cross. In 2000 the company began a tree-planting project on the island of Kalimantan in Indonesia aimed at reviving the tropical rainforest. Planting has exceeded the initial target of 300 hectares and the project will now move into phase two, which focuses on maintenance activities.

The Epson Group actively creates employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Following its success with such activities in Japan, in fiscal 2006 the Group began setting up a division in China aimed at creating employment for people with disabilities. These efforts came to fruition early in the new fiscal year when Suzhou Epson Co., Ltd. opened a cleaning plant for dustproof clothing in the Chinese city of Suzhou in May 2007 with the purpose of providing employment for disabled workers.

Epson aims to build relationships of mutual trust with its suppliers based on the concepts of fairness, impartiality, coexistence and co-prosperity. This is because Epson recognizes that its responsibility to society extends beyond the company itself to encompass the entire Epson supply chain. Based on this philosophy, the company continually applies the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR) across its entire supply chain in accordance with its procurement guidelines, which were revised in fiscal 2005 to incorporate CSR criteria.

Epson treats stakeholder communication as a priority activity in the context of its overall relations with society. Epson does its utmost to practice trust-based management, which relies on the company being positively evaluated by stakeholders. Thus we recognize the importance of encouraging accurate understanding of Epson’s activities on the part of the wider public, of identifying society’s expectations of Epson and of ensuring that our activities mesh with those expectations. The regional stakeholder meetings conducted by our European Headquarters as part of its consultation activities are one example of this. These meetings have enabled us to listen to many European experts in the CSR field offering their candid opinions on Epson’s CSR efforts. Epson aims to further improve its CSR activities and will make every effort to further enhance communication through dialogue with stakeholders.

Sustainability Report 2007 summarizing Epson’s CSR activities in fiscal 2006 can be downloaded from the following URL:
http://www.epson.co.jp/e/community/sr/2007/pdf/2007_en_sr.pdf

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