ImageQuest is deeply committed to preserving the environment and protecting the resources in our care. This commitment extends to every aspect of our business, from the products we provide to the way we run our offices to how we interact with the local community. Environmental stewardship is one of our highest corporate priorities, and remaining a strong environmental citizen is a responsibility we take very seriously.
ImageQuest is dedicated to upholding the vision for environmental leadership set forth by Ricoh Americas Corporation.
How can you help ImageQuest protect the environment?
For our customers, we offer a program to recycle toner cartridges. It's an important strategy, because toner is second only to paper as our industry's highest-volume consumable. This program is simple, easy and free. However, it requires your participation to work.
To participate, just drop your used toner cartridge back in the box and be sure to have our logistics professional pick it up when they deliver your new supplies. We do the rest. Returned cartridges are sent to their respective manufacturers where they (along with packaging and shipping materials) are disassembled, then sorted for reuse and material recovery.
Typically, between 95% and 100% of the total weight is recovered. This keeps used cartridges out of our landfills and conserves the energy and resources required to manufacture new ones.
Green products help conserve energy and reduce costs without affecting productivity
Reducing the amount of energy your organization consumes is an easy way to have a positive impact on the environment. To this end, ImageQuest offers energy-efficient document management systems that minimize power and resource consumption without sacrificing productivity or convenience.
Turning used systems into useful, renewable resources
At the end of their service life cycle, document management systems from enter our demanufacturing program. The demanufacturing process allows us to recycle nearly all of the materials in these products and keeps our systems out of landfills. It also prevents them from being shipped overseas for improper disposal in nations where environmental regulations are not as strict. (ImageQuest is firmly opposed to this practice, often referred to as "exporting harm," which is unfortunately common in this and many other industries.)
When scrap systems enter our demanufacturing program, they are sent to our recycling center here in Middle Tennessee where they are disassembled, processed and separated into commodity streams of steel, aluminum, copper, other metals, and plastics. These materials are sent to other approved recyclers for conversion into new, usable resources.
By using state-of-the-art technology, our demanufacturing facilities have improved the average rate of recovery from between 30 and 60% up to 95% of total equipment weight.
Conserving energy is an ImageQuest core value
Many products in the ImageQuest solutions portfolio have been awarded the Energy Star®. Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Energy Star promotes energy efficiency in office equipment. Lanier systems are engineered to conserve electric power, paper, and other consumable supplies. Products that earn the Energy Star prevent greenhouse emissions by meeting strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Office equipment is generally turned on 24 hours a day, so power management features are important for saving energy and are an easy way to reduce air pollution. Energy Star has helped businesses and consumers save an estimated $50 billion in energy costs and has prevented more than 150 million metric tons of pollution.
For more information about our environmental policies or programs contact us.