Konica Minolta South Africa is continuously reaffirming its commitment to sustainability, and a recent tree planting ceremony, on Monday 31 October at Bizweni Primary School in Somerset West, was one way of demonstrating that.
The trees in question – 50 fruit and indigenous shade trees – were donated by a local Konica client, print and copy services provider the Tytec Group, in partnership with Food & Trees for Africa.
“This tree planting provides the ideal opportunity for us to educate our learners and community members about the benefits of planting trees,” said Justus Swart, acting principal of Bizweni Primary, “which, of course, goes well beyond environmental greening to include creating shelter for animals and conserving water.”
Brian McMillan, owner of the Tytec Group, agreed the ceremony was significant for young South Africans. “It is Tytec’s privilege, in conjunction with Konica Minolta South Africa, to have been part of the tree planting ceremony.
“For Tytec, the planting of trees symbolises change in South Africa, bringing hope to people’s lives, changing landscapes, and hopefully ensuring these spaces are more enjoyable to work, play and learn in. Trees are invaluable resources to our environment, providing shade, shelter and a source of food to both people and animals. We are extremely privileged and proud to be part of such a great initiative, which aligns with our environmental sustainability commitments.”
Marc Pillay, CEO of Konica Minolta South Africa, added “Our team at Konica Minolta South Africa are also keenly aware of our own responsibilities in terms of sustainability. The 50 trees that are being planted will offset 18,45 tCO2e in their lifetime. This donation brings the total number of trees, spekboom and bamboo, donated by our company since 2008, to 63,379. We are proud to say an impressive 1 303 schools and 89 community centres have benefited from our planting campaign.”
To date, 23 387,08 tCO2e have been offset by the company enabling Konica Minolta South Africa to maintain its carbon-neutral status since 2013, a remarkable feat achieved some years before reducing carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality became a widespread trend.
At the same time, the company is working to prevent pollution and e-waste from the use of its products. Its Toner Recycling Project was launched in 2014 to address waste created by toner bottles and cartridges, providing a solution for products that are not accommodated in the recycling market and not reusable or refillable. To date, more than 90 tons of used toner bottles, cartridges and imaging units have been saved from landfill and recycled through this project.
