Environmental Performance

Energy consumption at domestic business sites decreased in line with production volume, but the effects of switching purchased electricity to electricity derived from renewable energy sources at all major business sites had an effect throughout the year. Coupled with an increase in installation of solar power generation, CO₂ emissions per production amount value decreased significantly.

Similarly, energy consumption also decreased at overseas business sites, but the switch to electricity derived from renewable energy sources at the three European companies as well as some sites in North America and China, coupled with aggressive installation of solar power generation, resulted in CO₂ emissions per production amount value decreasing more than energy consumption per unit of production.

More improvement is expected in the future by promoting the switch to electricity derived from renewable energy sources and the introduction of solar power generation scheduled for fiscal 2023 and beyond.

The targets for 2020 agreed on at the WSSD call for the worldwide and comprehensive management of chemical substances throughout the product life cycle, from development to manufacturing, use, and disposal in order to minimize the significant adverse effects on human health and the environment caused by the manufacture and use of chemical substances. Since then, the laws and regulations in each country have become stricter, and our Group is taking action to comply with laws and regulations.

Aiming to achieve the SDGs in 2030, the government of each country is taking action proactively. The Group (each of our plants and research institutes worldwide) is working on the SDGs through the management of chemicals carried out as part of our Responsible Care activities.

In terms of its management of chemical substances, the Group has a system in place for studying and reviewing chemical substance-related laws and regulations in Japan and throughout the world from the product development phase onward. We manage the chemical substances contained in products in order to comply with the laws of the countries where we operate and to minimize environmental impacts throughout product life cycles.

We are focusing on promoting the use of SDSs^* across the Group not only for disclosing information related to chemical substances under regulatory control in Japan and overseas, but also for disclosing relevant information voluntarily so as to improve the quality of the Group's information disclosure practices. Particularly for the GHS^* system, we have introduced ExESS^* and offer SDS and labels that are compliant with the laws and regulations of 46 countries and territories, including Japan, in the official languages of each country. We are revising our SDSs to comply with the addition of substances subject to the Industrial Safety and Health Act from April 2023.

Our Group conducts business activities in compliance with environmental laws and regulations while minimizing our impact on the global environment. For waste, we have established rules for on-site verification of waste disposal contractors in accordance with the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Act, and we continue to manage and quantify the amount of waste generated based on the issuance of manifests. Based on the above, we promote minimization of material loss and effective utilization (reuse/recycling), and promote activities to reduce material loss, including of valuable materials.

We also consider it important to work to reduce the environmental impact of society through our products and services as stated in our Environmental Vision for 2050 (Net Zero) “02. Contribute to reducing CO₂, including along supply chains”: “Develop products that factor in reducing CO₂ throughout their life cycle.” In this context, weight (volume) reduction, longer service life, recycling, and mono-material design are also initiatives by which we reduce waste in the supply chain as well as CO₂ emissions.

Meanwhile, we have been systematically disposing of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) waste in accordance with the Act on Special Measures concerning Promotion of Proper Treatment of PCB Wastes. Disposal of high-concentration PCBs has been carried out systematically in accordance with the capabilities of the Japan Environmental Safety Corporation (JESCO) in each region, and as of the end of fiscal 2022, approximately 89% of the PCBs had been disposed of. Planned disposal of low-concentration PCBs has also been under way since fiscal 2017, and we are moving forward to complete disposal by the legally mandated deadline.

The Group's business sites in Japan have been promoting a shift of boiler fuel from heavy oil to city gas since fiscal 2004. With the completion of the fuel conversion from heavy oil at the Shizuoka Plant in mid-2019, SOx emissions for the Group as a whole have been further reduced. We were able to greatly decrease emissions of NOx due to a decrease in the nitrogen content of city gas and stabilization of combustion conditions.

Heavy oil is still in use at some business sites in regions where city gas supplies are unavailable, and we are working to optimize the combustion conditions and keep both emissions of SOx and soot and dust down at low levels.

The switch to city gas is also currently being considered to stem the use of heavy oil.

2Since fiscal 2015, we have been continuously surveying the regional watershed risk of all sites in the Group. From fiscal 2021, we began disclosing data for R&D and logistics sites, included the newly added Group member SB Kawasumi Group, with 17 domestic locations and 27 overseas locations subject to information disclosure.

Regarding the identification of water risk, in fiscal 2022, our Group revised risk levels based on the results of a study using the WRI Aqueduct tool^* in addition to independent studies performed on each business site. We compiled the results into a table that contains the risks facing each of the regions in which the Group operates.

There are no major differences in the evaluation trends this year, but the results from Southeast Asia and China indicate relatively high risk. In light of these results, we will undertake more highly effective water resource conservation moving forward.

Our Group carries out risk assessments relating to leakage of chemical substances at all of our business sites, and we promote both the development and implementation of preventive frameworks. At the same time, when contamination caused by past leakage accidents is confirmed, we actively undertake voluntary surveys and institute countermeasures in order to prevent the environmental impact and health damage from spreading.

In February 2022, approximately 9 t of industrial ethanol raw material leaked from a storage tank at the Niagara Falls Plant, resulting in a leakage accident where the ethanol was discharged into the sewage plant of the industrial park.

Staff noticed that the level in the storage tank had dropped and immediately reported this to administration and the sewage plant, and shut off the source of the leakage. No abnormal water quality readings were detected at the sewage plant, and it was revealed that no water quality problems had occurred, so a survey and corrective action report was submitted to close off the incident.

When it comes to the problem of marine plastics, we are moving ahead with activities to contribute to reducing plastic marine waste via a number of initiatives based on the Japanese government's Plastic Resource Recycling Strategy.These initiatives include managing the raw materials used and the plastic products we manufacture, promoting the recycling of said products, and developing new products.

We are currently taking part in the Clean Ocean Material Alliance (CLOMA), which was established by a broad range of business operators related to supply chains for plastic products, including those in the chemical industry and distribution/retail industries, with the goal of forming cross-industry partnerships. Through this, we are working to address a variety of challenges by aiming to curb plastic waste across our supply chain as a whole and promoting recycling via 3R activities for plastic products.

Our Group promotes recycling as a means to make effective use of resources. This recycling includes the recovery and recycling of phenol from waste liquid produced by phenolic resin reactions during the product production process, fine grinding of offcuts from phenolic laminated sheets and decorative melamine resin laminate for use as a filler in phenolic resin molding compounds' reuse of molded article by-products (sprues and runners) as raw material for molding materials, as well as reuse of excess sludge from activated sludge effluent treatment equipment as compost (organic fertilizer).

Our Group has been using inedible plant-derived raw materials as renewable raw materials, primarily of phenolic resins (cashew nut shell oil, rosin (pine resin), wood flour, etc.) and molding compounds. They account for about 3.1% of all raw materials used.

In fiscal 2022, we added to our lineup of packaging films for food and pharmaceutical products made from renewable biomass materials, and in April 2023 we added eco-friendly phenolic resin molding material using plant-derived lignin. We will be undertaking initiatives in order to further increase the rate at which we use renewable raw materials in the future.

Details of the “Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act” that was enacted on April 2015 and further enhanced in April 2020 have been provided to each business site to ensure that they conduct regular quick inspections of the commercial air conditioners and freezer systems under their possession (or management), and regular inspections as required by law for equipment with a rated output of 7.5 kW or higher.

We are also promoting the switch to refrigerants with zero ozone depletion potential and low global warming potential, with a view to preventing depletion of the ozone layer and curbing global warming.

Existing facilities are regularly inspected annually for the amount of leakage in accordance with the “Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act,” to check that there are no leaks in amounts that need to be reported.