• Environmental Vision 2050
• Natural Capital
• Our Approach

• Roadmap
• Environmental Vision and Corporate Vision

Epson aspires to achieve sustainability and enrich communities. Achieving this aspirational goal will require addressing societal issues and driving transformative change in the way things are done.
Environmental Vision 2050 was conceived not from a perspective of what we can or cannot achieve but from a mindset of what we must achieve as a product creator and manufacturer.

¹ Non-renewable resources such as oil and metals
² Target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions aligned with the criteria under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

In 2008, Epson established Environmental Vision 2050, a statement of our environmental goals out to the year 2050. The world has since changed. Global efforts to achieve social sustainability are accelerating, with the United Nations adopting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ³ and the Paris Agreement ⁴ charting a course toward decarbonization. In light of these changes, Epson revised the environmental vision in 2018 and specified three actions that the company should take.
In March 2021, Epson further revised the vision, setting specific goals that reflect Epson's strong commitment to addressing major societal issues such as decarbonization and resource recycling.
³ International goals for social sustainability adopted at the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, aimed at addressing global issues such as climate change, poverty, and human rights. There are 17 sustainable development goals with 169 targets.
⁴ A legally binding international treaty on climate change. The aim of the agreement is to keep a rise in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

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The resources we use are called "natural capital" and include underground resources, abiotic flows, and ecosystem capital.
The mining of underground resources causes destruction of the biosphere. In addition, when mined resources are used as industrial products, they consume a great deal of energy and emit CO2.
Epson will dramatically change the way natural capital is used. We will reduce the consumption of new underground resources by utilizing previous mined minerals as above-ground resources and will use abiotic flows as energy sources. Ecosystem capital is renewable and non-depletable if used wisely.
In the natural world, solar energy is the only energy source used, and all matter circulates without producing waste. We look to learn from nature, avoid producing waste, and repeatedly reuse resources in our business activities.

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The entry into force of the Paris Agreement in 2016 changed the situation in industrial, economic, and other markets, as the focus turned from a low-carbon to a decarbonization strategy. Unlike the earlier Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, adopted under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, set a goal of keeping the average global temperature rise to well below 2℃ above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, emissions must reach net-zero in the second half of the 21st century. Later, in 2018, the IPCC presented the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5℃, which shows that there are clear benefits to keeping warming to 1.5℃ rather than 2℃ in terms of the impacts of extreme events such as heat waves and floods. The report brought the world's attention to the need to reach the 1.5℃ goal to overcome the climate crisis, prompting widespread global action.
The world needs to cooperate in transitioning societal systems toward net zero emissions by eliminating the consumption of fossil fuels and removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Climate risks: 1.5℃ vs 2℃ global warming

Source: WWF Japan documents based on IPCC SR1.5 SPM & Chapter 3

Decarbonization goal: carbon negative

Epson aims to become carbon negative, which is defined as limiting emissions of all greenhouse gases (GHG scopes 1, 2, 3) from our business activities, removing from the atmosphere an amount of CO2 corresponding to the remaining GHGs to reach essentially zero GHG emissions, and then removing even more carbon.
First, we will minimize energy-use associated with production and products and switch to renewable energy sources. Closing the resource loop is also effective in reducing GHG emissions, so, along with our goal of becoming underground resource-free, we will move toward GHG-free manufacturing.
Epson is reducing its customers' GHG emissions by providing products that have a smaller environmental footprint during use. We represent the amount of reduction as a measure of our environmental contribution and are creating and manufacturing products that will increase the contribution.

The idea of a circular economy is being advocated as a sustainable economic system to replace the current one-way linear economy of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal. In Europe, the European Commission has adopted the Circular Economy Package and has begun taking concrete steps toward transitioning to a circular economy that uses resources more sustainably.
According to an OECD ¹ report ², global resource consumption is predicted to increase to 167 gigatons in 2060, which is more than double the 79 gigatons consumed in 2011, due to population growth and GDP growth.
¹ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. A European-led international organization to which 35 developed countries, including Japan and the United States, are members.
² Global Material Resources Outlook to 2060

The closed resource loop goal: Becoming underground resource free

Epson will utilize previously mined underground resources as existing above-ground resources to reduce consumption of new underground resources and become underground resource free by 2050.
We will endeavor to reduce total resource inputs, eliminate waste/disposal, and reach a 100% sustainable resource rate ¹ to achieve the goal of becoming underground resource free.

¹ Sustainable resource rate: The proportion of sustainable resources (renewable resources + closed loop resources + less-depletable resources) to raw materials

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Efforts are being made to achieve not only carbon neutrality by 2050, but also carbon negativity, while aiming for underground resources free. By backcasting ¹ from these long-term goals, specific scenarios outlining how progress will be made in the mid-term have been developed, which are presented in the "Mid-Range Environmental Action Plan." As business growth continues, GHG emissions and resource consumption throughout the supply chain are expected to increase. To address this, an "Environmental Value Creation Scenario" has been formulated that integrates both environmental and business strategies across all operations, laying out a roadmap to achieve the 2050 targets.
¹ A planning technique in which a desired outcome is first envisioned and then the scenario for achieving the outcome is devised.

Targets and main strategic actions by category in the Mid-Range Environmental Action Plan

Global action is needed to achieve social sustainability, as the contribution that any one company can make by reducing the environmental impacts of its business activities is limited. Environmental Vision 2050 articulates actions for creating synergies with business partners based on our technologies, products, and services and for allowing us to play a part in creating a better world.
In March 2021, Epson announced a revised corporate vision, Epson 25 Renewed. Epson 25 Renewed describes the company's aspirations for addressing societal issues and achieving sustainable and enriched communities by working with customers and partners.
The efficient, compact, and precision technologies that Epson has developed since its founding have yielded inkjet technology that reduces environmental impacts and increases productivity along with a host of other technologies that Epson believes can play a major role in solving societal issues and in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We will play to these strengths and work with partners as we seek to co-create high customer value that offers both environmental and economic benefits.

Environmental Investment and Spending

• Spend 100 billion yen over the 10 years to 2030 (items 1, 2, 4)
  • Reduce GHG emissions ¹ in the supply chain by more than 2 million tonnes
  • Use renewable energy to meet 100% of the electricity needs of the entire Epson Group by 2023 ²
• Concentrate management resources on the development of products and services that reduce environmental impacts (item 3)

¹ GHG Scope 1, 2, 3 emissions
² Excludes leased properties for sales offices, etc. where the amount of electricity consumed cannot be determined

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Epson is declaring its intent to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through its environmental and other CSR initiatives. The SDGs are the world's agenda for sustainable development. There are 17 goals, such as ending poverty and hunger, ensuring peace, justice, and gender equality, and environmental and resource sustainability for future generations. All UN member states have committed to achieving these goals by 2030.

Epson's Environmental Vision 2050 is aligned with the SDGs. We will continue to honestly address customer and societal challenges and will create unique environmental value through our business activities to help achieve the SDGs and a sustainable future.

Solving Social Issues Through Inkjet Technology

"We want to change the world with inkjet technology."
Propelled by this aspiration, we are advancing Inkjet innovation to help achieve a better and more sustainable future.