Doing our bit for the environment

Protecting the environment through products, processes and partnerships is vital for business and key to any sustainability programme.

This importance is highlighted with Earth Day, which takes place on 22 April. It is an annual global event that brings attention to our environmental impact and what we can do to protect the planet.

Ahead of Earth Day, we celebrate our commitment to the environment at Brother:

1. Expanding on the traditional 3Rs of reduce, reuse and recycle, we approach environmental issues with the 5R approach – reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse and reform.
   
   
2. We implemented an Environmental Action Planto reduce CO₂ emissions by 30% between FY1990 and FY2020 across eight Brother sites in Japan.
   
   
3. The target was achieved seven years ahead of schedule, in FY2013, which led to additional activities to reduce CO₂ emissions even further.
   
   
4. This achievement was made through energy conservation measures including the installation of a state-of-the-art air conditioning system and the use of LEDs for ceiling lights.
   
   
5. In 2008, Brother Europe became a leading corporate partner of rainforest sustainability charity, Cool Earth, and pledged to help protect endangered rainforests and support indigenous communities.
   
   
6. We help Cool Earth through our toner and ink cartridge return and recycling scheme - a programme which has protected 2.7 million trees in the Peruvian rainforest, spanning 4,500 acres, and 1.6 million trees in Papua New Guinea, over 2,900 acres.
   
   
7. Protecting these trees has resulted in 2.1 million fewer tonnes of CO₂ in the atmosphere.
   
   
8. Returned toner and ink cartridges from Europe are recycled at our factories in the UK and Slovakia. Since 2004, these factories have recycled more than 15 million toner cartridges, avoiding 13,500 tonnes of materials going to landfill.
   
   
9. Through our Cool Earth partnership, we also donated three sewing machines to the JODAN sewing group in Papua New Guinea to teach children a life skill and develop the group into a fully-fledged business, selling garments to market.
   
   
10. We’re proud of our eco-credentials, designing devices that adhere to internationally-recognised environmental labels including the European Energy Star, Blue Angel and the Nordic Swan eco-labels.

ENDS

Notes to editors

• www.earthday.org
• The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.
• Established from the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 50,000 partners in 196 countries to build environmental democracy.
• Earth Day works with a combination of education, public policy, and consumer campaigns.
• Earth Day aims to empower everyone with the knowledge to inspire action in defence of environmental protection.