•The company has set aside Sh 83 billion to help achieve its goal of decarbonization.
•Technology by the company has helped save 1.6 million tonnes of plastic-based consumables.
Image: Handout
Japanese multinational-Epson, electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers is banking on technology to cut carbon emissions.
The company which is currently focusing on decarbonisation as one of the ways in protecting the planet, targets to reduce its emissions by 35 per cent by 2030.
According to the company,technology switch can mean huge reductions of up to 83 per cent in energy consumption, as a result of Epson’s Heat-Free technology.
Through their sale of over 70 million EcoTank printers worldwide, the company has saved 1.6 million tonnes of plastic-based consumables, it notes.
Technology innovations, such as Paper Lab – an in house paper recycler which uses virtually no water in its process has changed the future of recycling.
Speaking at a media workshop, Epson Limited regional head ,East and West Africa , Mukesh Bector, said they are working towards reducing their carbon footprint in line with the global goals.
“We are working on reducing energy consumption by 2023 in part of the united nations’ sustainable development goals and conduct our manufacturing activities along with the rules set by the United Nations,” Bector said.
The company has set aside Sh 83 billion over the next ten years, with a focus on decarbonisation, resource recycling and an accelerated programme to develop environmental technologies.
Bector said that depletion of natural resources and other environmental problems have become increasingly evident and that pursuing sustainability is essential to environmental protection, economic growth, and social stability.
He further noted that innovation is key amongst the solution approaches because it influences consumption pattern, lifestyle and cultural development.
“To a great extent, technology determines the demand for raw materials and energy, the efficiency of manufacturing, product performance, and waste reduction,” Bector noted.
The company is changing the way people print by offering an alternative to cartridges and way of printing which does not use heat in the process.
It is raising awareness and working together with the society, by providing products such as printers which consume less heat and have the ability to recycle waste printed products.
“Although this optimism in Kenya is encouraging, it is not enough to hope for change, every person must make change happen by introducing small switches in their everyday lives, if we are to reach net zero targets at a global and national level,” Bector advised.
“Although technology is not the ultimate solution, it has the power to increase productivity and efficiency, enable cost savings, reduce product and chemical waste, save resources such as water,” Bector said.