At PENTAX Medical, we want to be responsible corporate citizens. Together with HOYA, we act to protect our environment, support communities and improve lives around the globe.
At PENTAX Medical, we are committed to being responsible global citizens. We strive to balance patient safety with the inevitable environmental and climate impacts and work to improve this balance and our level of sustainability by actively contributing to environmental protection, social progress, and economic development. Together with HOYA, we use our resources and expertise to create a positive impact worldwide, enhancing the quality of life for people around the globe. Our ESG and Sustainability Management System guides our efforts across key initiatives, including Green Endoscopy — developing sustainable solutions without compromising care quality. Through innovative research and development, we’re establishing new industry standards in environmental stewardship while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare access. This brochure highlights our key sustainability initiatives, with comprehensive information available on our website.
It has always been our mission to help improve people’s lives through intelligent solutions
At PENTAX Medical, it has always been our mission to help improve people’s lives through intelligent solutions. We recognize our responsibility to minimize our impact on nature and society, and we are committed to finding the balance between advancing healthcare and protecting the environment. We want to contribute to a brighter future for coming generations, and we are actively working to improve our level of sustainability. We support a range of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, we established longterm ESG objectives which reflect the priorities of our customers, patients, and the society. As smart innovators, we continuously seek sustainable solutions in our product designand manufacturing, transportation, and waste management.
We are dedicated to minimize or compensate for our carbon emissions. We also focus on societal needs, supporting equal opportunities and providing access to high-quality education and healthcare. A key part of this journey is the implementation of our ESG Management System, which guides us towards more responsible and sustainable practices and allows us to help our customers meet their own sustainability requirements. Our journey to a more sustainable future has only just begun, and I invite you to join us on this path. Together, we believe we can find the balance between nature and society, ensuring a better world for future generations.
My mission is to make ESG principles a natural part of everything we do.
As Global ESG Team Coordinator at PENTAX Medical, I work beyond individual departments to integrate sustainability throughout our entire organization. My mission is to make ESG principles a natural part of everything we do. Sustainability is not the responsibility of one team but a shared commitment across all departments, regions, and areas of expertise.
From Research & Development, manufacturing, sales, and service, to administration:
ESG principles are essential in every department.
My role is to coordinate these activities and help teams understand how they contribute to ESG goals.
The best part of my role is working with our global teams who share this commitment. Helping colleagues discover how they can contribute to sustainability is rewarding, as each step moves us toward a more responsible future.
We are proud to introduce the new PENTAX Medical Code of Sustainability, which represents the first step on our long‑term journey towards greater sustainability. This Code establishes a foundational framework for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices.
The Code reflects our commitment to responsible corporate governance, resource conservation, and social equity. It covers key areas such as
the reduction of CO2 emissions,
waste management, and
the promotion of diversity and inclusion.
While this is an important milestone, it is just the beginning.
We’ll continue evolving these guidelines to meet stakeholder needs and maximize our positive impact. Our complete Code of Sustainability is available on our website, detailing our long‑term objectives and alignment with global sustainability efforts.
Certified commitment to sustainable operations
Having secured ISO 14001 certification for our Japanese facilities, we’re actively working to extend this globally recognized environmental standard across our worldwide operations. It demonstrates our tangible commitment to reducing environmental impact while maintaining product excellence.
In 2024, PENTAX Medical France achieved the Ecovadis Silver Label. In 2025, we plan to conduct a global Ecovadis assessment to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to ESG.
Adopted by all UN members, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development resulted in 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At PENTAX Medical, the SDGs marked the beginning of our sustainability journey. Recognizing the need for action on global challenges such as climate change, we have used the UN Goals as a foundation to build upon. In the past year, we conducted a Double Materiality assessment to better understand the areas where we can make the most meaningful impact. As a result, we have developed our own set of long‑term ESG goals, which are now fully integrated into our company objectives. These goals not only reflect the global priorities set by the UN but also address the specific needs of our customers, patients, and stakeholders.
We are now taking the next steps, and we invite you to join us as we continue to work towards a more sustainable and responsible future.
We are committed to improving global patient safety and healthcare quality, providing quality endoscopic education, and promoting fair employment and equality. The company emphasises sustainable water use and environmental practices, prohibits slavery and child labour, and supports resilient infrastructure, sustainable industrialisation and innovation.
Balancing sustainability with exceptional patient care, our Green Endoscopy initiative reflects our dedication to reducing environ mental impact across operations. Green Endoscopy spans across multiple areas of our business, including Research & Development, manufacturing, and service. In R & D, we focus on developing more sustainable materials and processes, ensuring that our devices are clinically efficient as well as eco-friendly. In manufacturing, we strive to minimize waste and emissions, while our service teams work to extend product life spans through efficient repair and maintenance.
A key aspect of this initiative is our collaboration with key medical associations such as ASGE and ESGE. Together, we’re advancing sustainable healthcare practices. Our focus remains on supporting customers’ environmental goals while ensuring uncompromised product quality and patient safety.
To ensure patient safety, the production of medical products is regulated by stringent quality assurance processes and safety regulations. Carbon emissions can therefore not always be completely avoided.
To compensate for this, we seek ways to neutralise our carbon emissions.
We are happy to support the Togo reforestation project to compensate for the carbon emissions in the production of our PlasmaBAG™ endoscope storage bags. As a result, all PlasmaBAG endoscope storage bags are carbon neutral.
Because our planet’s resources are limited, we aim to develop solutions that need less to achieve more. Central to this aspiration is investigating the use of sustainable materials for our products. As a result, our PlasmaBAG™ ECO endoscope storage bagis made with 80 % recycled polyethylene and holds the German eco label ‘Blue Angel’. In addition, PlasmaBAG™ ECO endoscope storage bagcan be recycled after usage, under the condition that it was used only on clean disinfected endoscopes.
Daniel Vinteler, Chief Executive Officer PlasmaBioticsRaising the share of recycled material in PlasmaBAG endoscope storage bags makes all our staff proud and encourages us to search for more opportunities to reduce our impact on the environment.
Drying and storing reprocessed endoscopes can be a time consuming and resource-consuming procedure.
Regular solutions need long drying cycles and continuous consumption of electricity and medical air for storage.
With our latest drying and storage system innovation PlasmaTYPHOON™+ we managed to significantly reduce energy and medical air consumption while improving efficiency. The PlasmaTYPHOON+ system reduces the endoscope drying and storage procedure from hours to only 1 to 3 minutesand offers ‘zero-energy’ storage for up to 31 days.There is no electricity nor medical air consumption during the entire storage period.
From melting glaciers to polluted rivers or plastic in the oceans, water demands we treat it with respect. With our latest innovation AquaTYPHOON™, we support healthcare institutions worldwide to significantly reduce their water consumption during the endoscope pre-cleaning step.
Thanks to AquaTYPHOON technology, only a few liters of water are used per endoscope for the pre-cleaning step, thus reducing the water consumption by 70 % to 89 % compared to the standard manual pre-cleaning.
To extend product life cycles we have always offered repair services.
With the aim of making our repair processes more sustainable and focusing on ‘reduce and reuse’, we also refurbish parts from discarded endoscopes and processors and use these for repairs.
By repairing tens of thousands of medical devices globally each year and refurbishing printed circuit boards (PCB) as well as thousands of camera components (CCD) for reuse, we help save natural resources and reduce waste.
Andreas Sauer, General Manager Global Repair ServiceWith our refurbishing program, we take responsibility and help save natural resources and minimize waste.
With our latest innovation AquaTYPHOON™, we support healthcare institutions worldwide to minimize their waste generation and water pollution during the endoscope pre-cleaning step.
AquaTYPHOON technology enables automated brushless pre-cleaning of endoscopes using only air and water, thus eliminating the use of detergent and single-use consumables.
This way, the waste generation of this reprocessing step can be reduced by up to 99%.
Our new eco-friendly accessory packaging introduces bags made from 70% polyethylene and 30% green polyethylene from renewable sources, replacing traditional 100% polyethylene materials. These new bags also feature a bio‑mass mark and updated labeling to reflect their eco-friendly nature.
Initially rolling out in November 2024 for zipper bags sized 60 × 85 mm to 240 × 340 mm, this program will gradually expand to additional sizes, reducing our reliance on fossil-based materials while advancing our sustainability goals.
Our ongoing commitment to reducing plastic consumption has yielded significant results through optimized packaging methods.
By replacing black plastic theft protection bags with transparent pallet wraps in January 2023, we achieved a reduction in plastic use during the first quarter, projecting a total decrease of 308 kg by March 2024.
Additionally, our repair service department’s optimization of minimum order quantities has further decreased plastic usage and eliminated 5,368 barcode stickers through March 2024.
While each step may appear small, these initiatives combine with other measures to create meaningful impact over time.