Bringing Smiles to Future Generations

Eco-Friendly Products

Nintendo has established internal standards to design eco-friendly products that respect the global environment from the product planning stage through to end-of-life disposal. For example, energy-efficient designs are developed at the product planning stage, and component parts and packaging materials are selected with careful consideration for the environment. Furthermore, part materials are clearly marked to facilitate recycling once a product reaches the end of its lifecycle and is discarded.

Our Approach to Chemical Substance Control

   Nintendo products are enjoyed by people of all ages including young children. For this reason, we follow the precautionary principle and avoid the use of any substance that may adversely affect the environment or human health, even if this effect has not been scientifically proven. Through our own control standards, we control restricted-use chemicals and allergens as specified by the laws of different countries including the RoHS Directive^*1 and the Toy Safety Directive.

Regulated substances labeled as Environment-Related Substances are placed into one of three categories: Banned Substances, Substances Subject to Early Withdrawal, or Substances under Application Control, and are managed accordingly. Nintendo is currently working towards eliminating the use of Polyvinyl Chloride, which has been designated as a Substance Subject to Early Withdrawal, and has already eliminated it from all plastic playing cards and the internal wiring of game consoles. We are also working towards compliance with the REACH Regulation^*2.

Material Procurement Based on Chemical Substance Control

Nintendo Co., Ltd. executes manufacturing control of its products starting with the selection of part materials and strives to maintain a manufacturing framework that eliminates the use of harmful chemical substances. We have established our own environmentally-friendly control standards to achieve Green Procurement^*1 . Production partners and part materials that meet our standards are certified as Green Suppliers and Green Parts, and the entire procurement flow is managed through our computer database. Green Supplier certification is valid for two years and is awarded after conducting an evaluation of each of the production partner sites, which includes offices and factory locations. As of September 2009, Nintendo has certified a total of 602 Green Suppliers and 11,394 Green Parts.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. also holds monthly project meetings to promote Green Procurement and discuss issues related to procurement quality, compliance with new laws and regulations, and future approaches. These meetings are held to facilitate smooth and effective information sharing among the Development, Quality Assurance, Engineering, Procurement, and Marketing Divisions.

Nintendo's overseas subsidiaries also procure material for instruction manuals, product packaging, and transport containers, which they oversee from the planning to production stages in compliance with the Green Procurement Standards of Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Verification Testing of Chemical Substances Contained in Products

Nintendo Co., Ltd. has established a department that specializes in conducting chemical analyses at each stage of product development, from the selection of part materials during product design to the production of the final product, to ensure that our products contain no banned substances. Most tests carried out to monitor the chemical substances contained in the part materials intended for use in Nintendo products are conducted at the final stage of the specification design or during mass production trials. We use in-house testing equipment for the majority of these tests; however, international third party certification organizations are also contracted whenever necessary or appropriate. During the production process, we also conduct tests to verify that production partners responsible for assembling Nintendo products receive into inventory the part materials specified on our Green Parts lists.

Energy-Saving Design

Nintendo is committed to developing energy-efficient products that conserve energy. For example, we have lowered Wii's power consumption by using cutting-edge technology to reduce the size of the semiconductor chips, which in turn reduced the overall size of the Wii console.

In addition, we have adjusted the product specifications of our consoles to satisfy the energy consumption regulations of the EuP Directive^*2 (also known as the Eco-Design Directive) that apply both to products in standby mode as well as to products with external power supplies marketed in the EU. Specifically, improvements have been made to the Wii console so that it meets the first tier requirements of the EuP Directive that come into effect in 2010. Nintendo is proud to report that the Nintendo DSi also satisfies the applicable requirements of the EuP Directive.

Furthermore, while game devices do not fall within the scope of the Energy Star Program^*3 , Nintendo DSi AC adapters (for 100V-120V regions) actually meet the Level 5 energy performance requirements for external power supply devices stipulated by the Energy Star Program.

Conserving Resources and Designing for Recyclability

We design for recyclability by continuing to reduce the use of composite materials^*4 in our products, evaluating the degradability of part materials, and meticulously indicating the materials used. Similarly, Nintendo is making every effort to reduce energy and resource consumption through careful selection of packaging materials, while taking extra care to avoid using composite materials in order to maximize recyclability.

Recycling of Used Products

Nintendo considers the promotion of recycling used products and packaging as one of its most important responsibilities and complies with the laws of each region.

Environmentally Conscious Business Activities

Nintendo employs the fabless production model, in which all of our production processes, from raw materials processing to parts manufacturing and product assembly, are outsourced to domestic and overseas production partners. Consequently, we take environmental considerations into account when making business decisions, and energy-saving practices and effective use of resources are a core focus. Additionally, we continue to examine the impact our production partners' manufacturing processes have on the environment.

Energy-Saving Activities at the Office

Promoting Waste Reduction and Recycling

Conservation of resources is of great importance. The first necessary steps to take in this direction are reducing the consumption of resources, reducing waste generation, waste separation, and recycling. While we always endeavor to make effective use of our resources, we recognize that we can further fine-tune our approach to waste reduction.