As an industrial company Océ is aware of its responsibility to contribute to sustainable development by acting as a careful steward of raw materials and energy for the benefit of future generations. That responsibility is reflected at Océ in the development of new products and production processes.

Océ is aware that external requirements and targets for sustainable development are constantly changing. This calls for ongoing attention for this issue, which leads to continuous improvements in a technological and organisational respect. During the design of an Océ product much attention is devoted to particular to energy-efficiency, reliability, convenience of use and a long lifetime. Care is also taken not to use materials containing dangerous substances and to avoid using substances that might affect the ozone layer. Products are designed in such a way that at the end of their useful lifetime the machines can easily be dismantled and the components are suitable for re-use or can be recycled as separate materials.

At Océ machines taken back from the market are dismantled on an industrial scale and the components are in turn made suitable for new applications through reuse or recycling. Waster materials are kept to an absolute minimum and are disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. That brings a full-circle close to the lifecycle of a machine. Océ machines have an outstanding market reputation for their long useful life-time, low ozone emission and the fact that their toner wastage is almost zero. A large proportion of Océ systems carry the USA ENERGY STAR® label in recognition of their low energy consumption. Thanks to the application of the unique Océ Copy Press technology Océ machines are highly accurate and reliable, which reduces needless paper usage and allows our customers t keep stocks of printed matter at a low level.

Océ pursues an active policy in the area of safety, health and environmental protection. As part of this, regular risk inventories and evaluations are conducted. The aim is to identify each risk in the above areas in good time and to take appropriate action.

Long before the decision was taken to apply for certification for the manufacturing facilities, care for the environment had already been an active element in the conduct of the business. Meanwhile the biggest manufacturing facilities, those in the Netherlands and Germany, have been awarded environmental certification according to the ISO 14001 standard. This certification helps to safeguard the environmental performance standard that has been achieved and encourages efforts to make further improvements, also in the interests of the continuity of our company.
Venlo, January 29, 2002