Eco-friendly Product Development and LCA of Products

Eco-friendly Product Development

Environmentally friendly product development system

Management system for the development of eco-friendly products

The Nikon Group has continued to operate the system outlined in the figure right, producing a steady stream of even more advanced eco-friendly products.

Nikon Product Assessment

In a bid to stay ahead of environmental regulations and deteriorating global environmental problems, in 1995, Nikon Corporation developed and established the Nikon Product Assessment, taking the properties of Nikon products into full account.
Since then, we have continued to run the assessment during the development and design stages of all product categories of the Nikon Group, while constantly revising and tightening the assessment items and standards.
We have already assessed over 1,000 products and units, and with an aim of improving our products, we have pushed for less wasteful use of resources and substantial reductions in the use of hazardous substances. We have also continued efforts to improve energy efficiency^*. In comparison to our existing products, we made an average 22.5% improvement for our new products in the year ended March 31, 2012.

Features and outline of the Nikon Product Assessment

Features

Mandates product assessment in the development stage
Requires continuous improvement in assessment scores from one model to the next
Supports designers by offering relevant documentation and references

Outline

Continues to reduce product mass and volume and the number of parts used in a product
Improves energy efficiency
Pursues longer product life and simpler repair procedures
Raises consumer awareness (for the reduction and appropriate management of waste consumables)
Simplifies recycling procedures
Discontinues or reduces the use of hazardous substances
Uses Eco-glass^* in the optical systems
Uses lead-free solder on electronic circuit boards
Adopts hexavalent chromium-free surface treatment technologies
Ensures compliance with environmental regulations
Makes overall assessments

*Energy efficiency
The Nikon Group defines energy efficiency as the degree of functionality of each product per unit of power consumption.
Energy efficiency of a product = Degree of functionality/Unit of power consumption
Functionality is defined separately for each product type. The Nikon Group is always committed to releasing new products with higher energy efficiency.
*Eco-glass
The Nikon Group developed lead- and arsenic-free optical glass for use in the lenses and prisms of optical devices, and calls this type of glass "Eco-glass." The use rate of Eco-glass in optical systems has reached 100% in most Nikon products.

Life Cycle Assessment of Products

By utilizing life cycle assessment (LCA^*) techniques to promote quantitative environmental impact assessments for our representative products, Nikon Corporation has conducted activities that effectively reduce our environmental impact.

*LCA
Life cycle assessment, an objective method to quantitatively evaluate the environmental impact of products and services throughout their lifecycles, including the exploitation of resources and the manufacture, use, disposal, and transportation of the products.