-
Sustainability at Brother
-
ISO14001
-
REACH
-
RoHS
-
MSDS
The concept of sustainability
The concept of sustainability explores the relationship between economic development, environmental quality, and social equity. Sustainability is concerned with a balance of the economic and social needs of the people in connection with the regenerative capacity of the natural environment.
At Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen GmbH (BIMH), sustainability is not perceived as a short-distance race, but as a marathon in which all kinds of different actors, namely, governments, the private sector as well as civil society must participate. The core of Brother's sustainability concept is based on the Brother Group Environmental Vision 2050 which aims to contribute to solving social and environmental issues, focusing on activities related to the reduction of CO2 emissions, resource circulation, and biodiversity conservation. Here you can find more information on where the Brother Group is headed as well as the Brother Group's Environmental Policy.
In addition, the Brother Group is committed to the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, the Brother Group introduced the SDGs' special website "Brother SDGs STORY”.
Apart from this, BIMH has launched different programs to effectively implement sustainability internally. This is done through our environmental management program according to ISO 14001 which has been successfully implemented since 2009. Beyond this, BIMH aims to act according to our 5 R Concept: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Reform, and Recycle. Additionally, BIMH aims to increase company-wide awareness of sustainability matters. This is for instance carried out by engaging in internal sustainability workshops. Recently, BIMH has engaged in a workshop carried out with the organization Climate Fresk, whereby scientific facts behind climate change as delivered by the latest IPCC Report have been elaborated. Another example is our cooperation with the organization VAIA which engages in reforestation measures in the Dolomites that has been severely hit by the storm VAIA in 2018.
Furthermore, also the product range offered by Brother has become more sustainable. One example is our GTX 600 Direct to Garment Printer, which offers reduced ink consumption, requires fewer maintenance parts, ensures a safe working environment for operators due to a built-in mist filter, and reduced packaging waste as inks are available in 9 l or 18 l tanks. Importantly, the inks to our industrial printers hold the OEKO-TEX® ECO PASSPORT and are GOTS Approved Additives. In addition to that, our inks do not contain any animal products as declared in our Vegan Declaration.
In that way, Brother finds itself committed to the sustainability marathon and knows there are more steps ahead to reach our Brother Group Environmental Vision and contribute to global targets like the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, we believe that greenwashing should be avoided, by being honest and open about what is being done and why it is being done.
At Brother Emmerich, in order to minimise our impact on the environment, we have adopted the International Environmental Management System ISO 14001 standard.
In March 2009, Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen successfully achieved full accreditation to this international standard.
This was awarded following a detailed independent assessment by TÜV Süd Managment Service GmbH, Munich, Germany, Cert. No. 12 104 35669 TMS
Fundamental to this standard is continual monitoring and measuring of our environmental performance so we can identify and implement improvements to protect and preserve the environment. Typical examples include;
Reducing in house Paper usage.
Reducing energy consumption.
Reducing the amount of Packaging Materials used.
Increase the amount of re-cycling.
Promote greater use of Duplex Printing.
These are a small sample of the many areas of our activities which we empirically measure and report on a monthly basis to monitor our performance.
At all times, Brother will operate within German and European Union environmental legislation and will continuously monitor such legislation as it progresses.
Environmental Policy
Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen GmbH is a daughter company of Brother Industries Ltd., Nagoya/Japan and is responsible for the sales areas Europe, Africa and Middle East. As part of the global Brother Group, we have the obligation to realise the environment guidelines fixed by Japan for the total company business.
According to the overall Brother Group philosophy, we will continue to develop and improve our environmental performance - in the interest and welfare of the general public. Environmental management is an essential part of our business decision making process and we strive to make continuous improvements to protect and preserve the environment. The environmental policy of our business is an equivalent and consistent component of the total business politics and strategy.
In order to further diminish our impact on the environment, Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen GmbH has adopted the company-wide Environmental Management system, which corresponds to the norms of ISO 14001. Within this framework we will continuously evaluate and improve our environmental performance, and by applying Brother's own 5R concept we will promote the environment activities in our business as well as in cooperation with our trade partners.
We will collaborate with the corresponding legislative authorities in Germany and Europe to improve our environment-orientated performance.
Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen GmbH does not manufacture products, but is more and more involved in product development and product specification. In this way we take influence, that the products as well as the packing materials are recyclable, and that these correspond to the respective environmental laws and standards. We continue to monitor the compliance of EU laws and guidelines.
In accordance with ISO 14001 the following principles apply to us:
- To optimise energy consumption by technical facilities.
- To avoid environmentally-hazardous refuse and emissions and/or to reduce these to a minimum.
- To implement the legal regulations in recycling (e.g. WEEE and RoHS)
- To promote the environmentally conscious actions of our personnel
In future we will also integrate our suppliers into our activities and goals, and will more closely collaborate especially with forwarding companies. The objective is to regard the conservation of the environment as a joint concern and to reduce our environmental influences wherever possible.
We will regularly review our progress. We promise to expand our environmental activities effectively by integrating our personnel, external companies and customers - in the endeavour to persistently promote the environmental awareness . We will gladly familiarise our personnel, business partners and customers as well as any interested persons with our activities and strategies.
Find here our Enviromental Policy.
REACH, Regulation No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals.
REACH requires that sufficient information on Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) contained in articles in concentration above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) is communicated to allow the safe use of the product.)
The linked REACH Declaration refers to the current REACH SVHCs which are updated by ECHA. (https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table)
On 1 July 2011, the European Commission (EC) published new RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU in the official Journal of the European Union. The directive shall enter into force on July 21st, 2011. Member States must transpose Directive 2011/65/EU into national law by 2nd January 2013. The old directive 2002/95/EC and its amendments is repealed with effect from 3rd January 2013.
The European Union has adopted a directive, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2011/65/EU which will restrict the use of certain substances in electrical and electronic products, including Lead (Pb), Mercury, Cadmium, hexavalent Chromium, and certain Halide-containing flame retardants. This directive applies to all electrical and electronic products, and their component parts, placed on the market after 1st July 2006.
Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen GmbH, is committed to compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including the restriction of hazardous substances in electronic products. The RoHS Directive specifies that an electronic product or component may not contain a listed substance except as specifically provided for in the directive.
Brother's aim has always been to comply with the RoHS Directive prior to the 1st July 2006 implementation date for all products. To this end, all production shipped from manufacturing plants from the end of January 2006 is compliant. Furthermore, many products have been compliant from first date of production, so if you require detail on any specific models, please let us know, and we will send confirmation of the current status. Brother has conducted extensive research on substitute materials to ensure that any alternatives used do not compromise product quality or safety.
Brother has been working closely with our supply chain partners and others in the industry, including material and component suppliers, to ensure every aspect of our business accommodates these new requirements.
If you have any questions on this directive, or need further details on Brother's actions to date, please contact us by email info@brother-ism.com
The MSDS is an important component of product stewardship and occupational safety and health. It is intended to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point, etc.), toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill-handling procedures. MSDS formats can vary from source to source within a country depending on national requirements.
environment@brother-ism.com (for environment enquiries)
+49 2822 609-0 (for general enquiries)