Sidebar: Fujifilm—Design
for Environment
by Melissa Braddock
People love the convenience of one-time-use cameras like Fujifilm’s QuickSnap. But are these “throw away” cameras as bad for the environment as they initially seem?
When they were first introduced, everything but the film was thrown away, but disposable cameras are no longer piling up in the world’s waste dumps. Beginning in 1990, Fujifilm installed a revolutionary recycling system. In 1992, the company went back to the drawing board, redesigning the camera so that each part could be reused as is, or remade into raw material to be used again. The entire recycling process has been automated. Plastic covers are reduced to small pellets to be molded into new parts. Lenses, bodies, and strobe units are incorporated into new cameras.
In recent years, the introduction of lighter, more compact models has led to a reduction in resource use, while new construction methods and standardized parts have raised the level of reuse and recycling. Currently, 99 percent by weight of components are reused or recycled within the QuickSnap manufacturing cycle.
Fujifilm has accomplished 100 percent recycling of waste at six production and research sites, and aims to recycle all waste for its Japanese factories and research facilities in the near future, eliminating incineration and landfill use!
The QuickSnap camera is a part of Fujifilm’s
“Design for Environment” program, which
is intended to incorporate environmental awareness,
reuse, and recycling
directly into product development in order to reduce
the impact of products and packaging.
In order to address complex environmental issues from a long-term perspective, “design for environment” policies are being adopted by more and more companies around the world. The European Union has recently circulated a legislative proposal setting ecodesign requirements and minimum energy efficiency standards for consumer appliances. Aimed at curbing Europe’s energy consumption, the legislation may include minimums for recycled content and strict limits on the consumption of resources by factories.
—Melissa Braddock, FONZ intern.
ZooGoer 32(1) 2003.
Copyright 2003 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
