Creating Environmentally Friendly Products
Environmentally Friendly Products
Reducing the use of hazardous substances and lessening environmental impact
From PCs to mobile telephones, a wide array of IT devices make modern life fuller, more exciting and more connected. Thanks to rapid advances in technology, each new device is more convenient and easy to use than the last. Unfortunately, when devices become obsolete they become waste, and the environmental impact of discarded IT devices has become a serious problem. To preserve an abundant natural environment, I-O DATA works hard to make its products environmentally friendly.
J-Moss Green Mark products
Along with the RoHS directive, I-O DATA follows JIS C 0950, Methods of Indication of Inclusion of Designated Chemical Substances for Electrical and Electronic Equipment, informally known as J-Moss. J-Moss is a JIS standard on the inclusion of six hazardous substances that are restricted in Japan. I-O DATA produces many products that bear the Green Mark, the J-Moss stamp of approval.
The RoHS directive
RoHS (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electric Equipment) is a directive based on EC95 that prohibits in principle the inclusion of any of the ten substances listed below in electrical devices.
- Lead
- Mercury
- Cadmium
- Hexavalent chromium
- Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB)
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)
- Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)
- Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP)
- Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
- Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)
What is the Law on Promoting Green Purchasing?
The Law on Promoting Green Purchasing
The Law on Promoting Green Purchasing, more properly the “Law on Promotion of Purchasing of Environmentally Friendly Products by the National and Other Governments,” was passed May 24, 2000 and came into effect April 1, 2001. The law requires all local public bodies, business operators, citizens and manufacturers affiliated with national, prefectural and municipal governments and their agencies to move toward green purchasing, to help create a society capable of sustainable development.
- *Green purchasing is the practice of considering carefully whether you really need the product or service you are purchasing, and considering its environmental impact along with the usual criteria of price, quality, convenience and design. Purchasers are encouraged to seek out products with the least environmental impact (such as Eco Mark products).
Green Purchasing Criteria
I-O DATA product categories that conform to the criteria of the Law on Promoting Green Purchasing are as follows.
Hard disk drives
Evaluation Criteria
The energy consumption efficiency shall not exceed the Standard Energy Consumption ate obtained by the formula of applicable category in Table
- Note:1.Magnetic disc drive units that meet any of the following criteria will not be regarded as a magnetic disc drive unit under consideration in the evaluation criteria in this section.
- a. Memory less than 1 gigabyte.
b. Disc diameter less than 40 mm.
c. Maximum data transfer speed exceeds 70 gigabytes/second.
| Category | Formula for calculating standard energy consumption efficiency |
|
|---|---|---|
| Type of magnetic disk unit | Shape and performance of magnetic disk unit | |
| Single Unit disk | Disk size exceeding 75mm; 1disk | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 28.6) |
| Disk size exceeding 75mm; 2 or 3 disks | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 29.3) | |
| Disk size exceeding 75mm; 4 or more disks | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 29.5) | |
| Disk size exceeding 50mm, and no more than 75mm; 1 disk | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 28.6) | |
| Disk size exceeding 50mm, and no more than 75mm; 2 or 3 disks | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 29.4) | |
| Disk size exceeding 50mm, and no more than 75 mm: 4 or more disks | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 29.8) | |
| Disk size exceeding 40mm, and no more than 50mm; 1 disk | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 27.2) | |
| Disk size exceeding 40mm, and no more than 50mm; 2 or more disks | E = exp(2.98 x ln(N) – 28.8) | |
| Sub-system | E = exp(2.00 x ln(N) – 19.7) | |
- Note:1. In the formula for calculating standard energy consumption efficiency, “N” representsvolutions per minute of magnetic disk (unit: rpm).
2. “ln” represents a logarithm where the base is “e”.
Displays
Evaluation Criteria
(1) Shall meet the standard of applicable category in Table.
(2) Is capable of automatically resuming to a useable mode when task is resumed.
(3) Specified chemical substances (lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium (VI) compound, PBB, PBDE) should not exceed the standard content rate. Content information of those chemical substances can be easily obtained on its website, etc.
- Table : Standard Energy Consumption at each mode for Monitors
| Energy consumption at on mode |
Energy consumption at sleep mode |
Energy consumption at off mode |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagonal Screen Size : < 30 inches Resolution: ≤ 1.1 MP |
≤ 6 x MP +0.05 x A + 3 | ≤ 2W | ≤ 1W |
| Diagonal Screen Size: < 30 inches Resolution: > 1.1 MP |
≤ 9 x MP +0.05 x A + 3 | ||
| Diagonal Screen Size: 30–60 inches All Resolutions |
≤ 0.27 x A + 8 |
- Note:MP is the number of megapixels in decimal form. A is the viewable screen area (in square inches).
Recycling
Products subject to recycling
As part of the Company’s program of environmental activities, I-O DATA conducts a wide range of recycling efforts, to encourage the collection and reuse of resources.
LCDs For our future and the earth
On October 1, 2003, I-O DATA began offering to recycle LCDs of households and businesses that no longer needed them.
Figures for used LCDs collected and recycled is as follows.
Figures for LCDs collected and recycled from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
| Volume transported to plant (kg) |
Number of units transported to plant (unit) |
Volume recycled (kg) |
Volume reused (kg) |
Percentage reused |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From homes | 39,639.9 | 6,870 | 39,639.9 | 33,969.3 | 85.7% |
For business LCDs, we have joined the industrial recycling scheme of PC3R Promotion Association, which promotes 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of PCs and monitors in Japan.
Small rechargeable batteries
On April 1, 2001, the national government passed the Resource Reuse Promotion Law. This law required the manufacturers of small rechargeable batteries, along with manufacturers of devices that use these batteries, to collect and recycle them. Pursuant to this law, I-O DATA joined the Japan Portable Rechargeable Battery Recycling Center, run by Battery Association of Japan, and now uses the Center’s systems to collect and recycle the batteries.