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In developing environmentally conscious products, we work to reduce the environmental impacts of our products throughout their life cycles.
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Mission: We carry out design assessment in consideration of the product life cycle - from procurement through to disposal. |
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Commitment: Checks are performed throughout product development, and only acceptable products are shipped. |
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Commitment 1 |
Environmental Design Assessment
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| Major checkpoints at each stage of the life cycle |
- Procurement stage (selection of parts, materials)
- Elimination/reduction of prohibited and restricted substances (Green Procurement)
- Reduction of compound materials and parts that are difficult to disassemble
- Minimization of use of natural resources
- Manufacturing Stage
- Elimination/reduction of prohibited and restricted substances (Green Manufacturing)
- Reduction of packaging materials for parts
- Distribution Stage
- Reduction of packaging materials
- Styrene-foam-free packaging
- Usage Stage
- Reduction of power consumption (development of energy saving products)
- Reduction of products in volume and mass
- End-of-life Stage
- Design for easier disassembly
- Provide information for recycling and disposal - indication of raw materials used in products
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Commitment 2 |
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Assess "value and environmental aspects" of a product (Factor T) |
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Toshiba Group introduced Factor T, its unique eco-efficiency indicator for evaluating value and environmental aspects of a product, in fiscal 2003.
Eco-efficiency is calculated by dividing the "value" of a product by its "environmental impact". The smaller the environmental impact and the higher the value of the product, the greater its eco-efficiency. The value of a product is calculated based on its functions and performance, taking the voice of customer into consideration. The environmental impact of a product is calculated with consideration for environmental impacts throughout its life cycle (from procurement of materials, manufacturing and distribution, through to use and end-of life). Environmental impacts are calculated with LIME (Life-cycle Impact Assessment Method based on Endpoint Modeling), developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology through an LCA project run by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan.
The factor is calculated by dividing the eco-efficiency of a product subject to assessment by the eco-efficiency of the benchmark product. The higher the eco-efficiency of the product, the larger the factor becomes. We refer to creation of environmentally conscious products (ECPs) through calculation of factors as "Factor T."
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