Epson announces it has joined RBA

A vision and a mission

RBA is non-profit that has vision to build a global electronics industry that creates sustainable value for workers, the environment and business. It’s on a mission to see that members, suppliers and stakeholders collaborate to improve the working and environmental conditions through leading standards and practices. As a Regular Member of RBA, Epson has made a commitment to fully support these visions and goals.

What this means is that from now on Epson will comply to the RBA Code of Conduct in all of its own operations, progressively implementing the RBA approach and tools in the spirit of the industry’s common goals to create a sustainable way of doing business. The company will also progressively apply the Code to its first-tier suppliers. It will monitor its own endeavours to the best of its ability using RBA practices and tools, and encourage its suppliers to do likewise.

A shared philosophy

As a company, Epson believes that CSR is an essential element of its Management Philosophy – to become indispensable to its customers and society. It has been issuing guidance to suppliers about its procurement activities since 2005, and in 2008, it established the Epson Supplier Code of Conduct, which is based on the RBA Code of Conduct.

Moving forward, Epson will further observe the RBA Code of Conduct and work with its suppliers to strengthen CSR supply chain initiatives. Daniel Quelch, CSR manager at Epson UK, says, “RBA is a fantastic organisation that continues to unite our industry and drive members to pull its collective weight for a sustainable future. It is this sense of collective responsibility that’s needed to help counter the increasingly transparent issues around the environment and business sustainability that we’re leaving behind for future generations. Sustainability is a core component of Epson’s DNA and we’re looking forward to using this to support the likeminded vision and goals of the RBA.”