Profit for Purpose - A Business View with Henning Ohlsson, Epson

This episode of FuturePrint TV was captured live from the FuturePrint Leaders Summit 2022, featuring Henning Ohlsson, Sustainability Director at Epson Europe, on the crucial topic of sustainability.

The importance of acting on our promises

Ohlsson begins by reminding us that COP27 is fast approaching, and are seeing countless “changes in commitment, proposals and sustainability reports with regards to climate, but nothing is changing.” There are many meetings and discussions, but no clear action appears to have been taken, Ohlsson believes, quoting the UN Secretary General, António Guterres: “Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of treating nature like a toilet!”

Packaging is the visible sign of waste

There needs to be greater focus on energy saving, circularity, renewables, alternatives to plastic, AI/IoT and responsible production, Ohlsson states, as this will have a significant impact on society and the way we do business in the future.

Ohlsson highlights the need to refocus our goals away from the “decades-old capitalist goals of maximising profits at any cost, to a more holistic goal of looking out for the wellbeing of everything and everyone the company’s action affects”. All companies need to have a powerful reason ’why’.

What is the purpose of a company?

The purpose of a company should be able to be broken down into categories: 

• Customers - making their lives easier by providing superior products, solutions or services

• Companies - achieving industry leadership through best practise

• Ourselves - financial and non-financial rewards and freedom to act

• Our people - feeling a sense of belonging

• Society - making the world a better place

What is Epson doing?

Epson, rated number one in Forbes Japan as the most sustainable company, want to be carbon negative, emitting less than zero carbon dioxide, Ohlsson explains. Their approach is that the more they produce, the less they use water and material. The team has made a firm commitment that by 2023 they’ll be switching all offices to carbon neutral, renewable electricity. 

From vision to action

We have to take responsibility for the full lifecycle of our goods. Epson has a collaboration with National Geographic, supporting scientific research while recognising that small technological steps help towards the bigger goal. Ohlsson mentions that the combination of economic and green thinking will ultimately result in customer, financial, and environmental benefits.

The future of sustainable printing

Creating one sheet of A4 paper uses the equivalent of 10 litres of water. Ohlsson suggests the future of sustainable printing is having the technology in-house to create recycled paper. He identifies new technology which enables users to insert used paper to create new sheets in just three minutes, crucially, without using water.

Is what your business thinks, says, and does the same thing? Ohlsson concludes that only these organisations can be trusted to build a sustainable future.

To watch the full presentation, click here.