Environmental Business Plan
Our Environmental Business Plan is our own unique initiative that applies business management principles to environmental conservation. In 2021, we are launching initiatives related to energy that will supplement our existing focus on waste and water. Through these efforts, we are demonstrating our commitment to reducing our environmental impact while adopting measures to address the issue of global warming.
Environmental Business Plan
Energy Efficiency
To date, we have been dedicated to energy efficiency in our glass manufacturing, especially
for our melting furnaces. As we broaden this initiative, we are visualizing the total amount
of energy used globally by the Group and are implementing an energy business plan aimed at
reducing waste and enhancing our energy efficiency. The data we gather will be analyzed to
determine the measures we will implement to improve productivity.
Furthermore, we will
combine these initiatives as we improve electricity usage in each process and introduce
innovative manufacturing process technologies such as hydrogen combustion. We then aim to
gather basic data for use in our efficiency improvement plans and goal setting, thereby
improving our energy efficiency.
By achieving the industry’s highest level of
efficiency and effectively reducing our CO2 emissions, we will seek to become a leading
example of the shift toward carbon neutrality.
Waste Reduction
As part of the waste reduction efforts we launched in 2000, we separate waste
into two categories: “normal waste,” which
comprises waste generated by our normal production activities, and “bulky construction
waste,” which is waste generated by such activities as regular maintenance of glass melting
furnaces.
These waste categories are further separated into the four subcategories
shown in the accompanying figure, with “Landfill Waste D” being our highest waste reduction
priority due to its high environmental impact.
Waste Categories
With regard to normal waste requiring landfill disposal (Landfill Waste D), our ongoing efforts since 2009 to minimize and recycle what we generate on a daily basis have reduced the percentage of this waste per total weight of products sold to 0.1% or less. On the other hand, however, as a result of glass fiber business acquisitions in the U.K., Netherlands, and U.S.A. in 2016 and 2017, the amount of normal waste that the NEG Group produces has increased dramatically. Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen our efforts overseas to reduce the amount of normal waste we generate.
Normal Waste (Landfill Waste D) per Total Weight of Products Sold
With regard to bulky construction waste requiring landfill disposal (Landfill Waste D), the majority of this waste is generated from glass melting furnace repairs and comprises unrecyclable waste brick. In 2017, we put in place a mechanism for shifting this waste to Social Recycling B by having a refractory manufacturer use waste chromium (Cr) bricks and zirconium (Zr) bricks as raw materials. This has also contributed to a significant reduction in landfill waste disposal expenses associated with Cr bricks, which have a particularly large environmental impact.
Water Reduction
We believe that our level of manufacturing refinement is represented in the way water is used. Consequently, by managing our water usage we are increasing our understanding of the entire glass manufacturing process, including melting, forming, processing, and cleaning while further improving our process technology and equipment. This graph shows the change over time in water intake and waste water per total weight of products sold. Although intensity increased after fiscal 2004 due to the rapid switchover from CRTs to LCDs, our intensity has declined as a result of our management efforts to improve our utilization efficiency within the LCD business since fiscal 2014.
Water Intake/Waste Water per Total Weight of Products Sold
Water Flow
Climate Change / Biodiversity
Environmentally Friendly
Products
Environmental Accounting