Energy-saving, resource-saving, and reduction of environmental impacts
Policy
The Group will further promote energy conservation and the effective use of resources, and work to resolve a variety of environmental issues for the future of the Earth.
Awareness of Issues
We recognize that specific measures to combat climate change, the efficient use of limited resources, and a circular economy1 are key issues that companies face. The Group is committed not only to contributing to the global environment, but also to enhancing our competitiveness and achieving sustainable development through efforts to conserve energy, effectively use resources, and reduce the environmental impact of our manufacturing processes.
- 1Circular economy
Economic activities to recycle and circulate existing resources, such as converting waste after use into resources for another business
- Environment Management
- Response to Climate Change
- Resource Saving
- Biodiversity and Pollutant Countermeasures
Environment Management
Environment Management
The Group works on energy savings, waste reduction, and chemical substance management as
important issues. We create the "Shin-Etsu Group Environmental Safety Management Plan" every
year in accordance with the Responsible Care Codes1 and set numerical goals. The
company and all of the plants of our Group companies set goals annually according to this
plan and work to achieve them. Annual activity results are reported to the corporate officer in
charge of the environment control at the Group Environmental Protection Conference.
In order to increase the quality of activities, each plant and the Group companies perform
several internal audits a year to check if they have set appropriate goals and the progress
that they have achieved. In addition, we also check their activities and achievements
through periodical environmental control and safety audits. The audit results are reported
to the top management.
Promoting the Reduction of Environmental Impact
The Group constantly works to promote the reduction of environmental impact in the
manufacturing stage. Furthermore, we are considering ways to reduce the environmental impact
at the product usage stage and to contribute to energy and resource conservation. The
Research, Manufacturing, and Sales Departments work together to develop products that are
used in various fields, including the manufacturing industry, our daily lives, and the
renewable energy industry.
Environmental Impact of Business Activities
- 1 Responsible Care Codes Six principle areas are addressed when implementing Responsible Care: Responsible Care Codes consist of seven codes, composed of six codes for different activity areas, namely, environmental preservation, disaster prevention, occupational health and safety, distribution safety, chemical and product safety, and dialogue with the public, and the Management System Code, designed to operate all the above commonly as a system.
- 2 Waste
Since the standarsds of waste differs between Japan and other countries, the range of entities for the waste is Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. and the consolidated in Japan. - 3 PRTR controlled substances
・462 substances have been identified as Class I designated chemical substances from the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) system in the Act on Confirmation, etc. of Release Amounts of Specific Chemical Substances in the Environment and Promotion of Improvements to the Management. Since the standarsds of PRTR differs between Japan and other countries, the range of entities for the PRTR is Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. and the consolidated in Japan. - ※ The waste recycling ratio indicates the ratio of the amount recycled to the total waste generated.
- ※ The final disposal ratio indicates the ratio of the amount of landfill waste to the total waste generated.
Targets and Results
The following shows our targets and results for environmental protection and chemical substance management for FY2022 and our targets for FY2023.
Target, Implementation Status, Evaluation, and Planned Implementation
Items
Environmental Certification
In 1996, Shin-Etsu Chemical Gunma Complex obtained the ISO 14001 certification, becoming the first facility of a major chemical company in Japan to achieve such a certification. The Group has continued to obtain the ISO 14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management systems.
Environmental Accounting
In FY2022, the company referred to the "Environmental Accounting Guidelines 2005" prepared by the Ministry of the Environment in Japan to calculate the investments and expenditures necessary to reduce the environmental impacts of air pollution, water pollution, environmental release of chemical substances, etc.; energy-saving measures to conserve the global environment; and reducing waste and recycling to reuse resources. Since we have deployed an additional cogeneration system that has a significant effect on reducing GHG emissions, the amount of investment in Global Environmental Conservation Costs has increased significantly.
Environmental Conservation Costs in FY2022
million yen
| Category | Details | Investment | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant area costs | 9,629 | 11,172 | |
| (1)Pollution prevention costs | Prevention measures for air, water, noise and other type of pollution | 840 | 4,487 |
| (2)Global environmental conservation costs | Energy saving and global warming mitigation measures | 8,336 | 3,607 |
| (3)Resource recycling costs | Waste reduction, recycling and other measures | 453 | 3,078 |
| Upstream and downstream costs | Green purchasing and container and packaging measures | 91 | 83 |
| Administration costs | Environmental management, environmental impact monitoring and environmental education measures | 406 | 484 |
| Research and development costs | Research and development of environmentally conscious products and processes | 50 | 3,036 |
| Social engagement costs | Donations and contributions to environmental saving | 0 | 98 |
| Environmental remediation costs | Assessment, handling and other costs related to environmental pollution | 0 | 63 |
| Total | 10,175 | 14,936 | |
Economic Benefits of Environmental Accounting in FY2022
million yen
| Details of benefits | Economic benefit |
|---|---|
| Energy saving | 265 |
| Improved production efficiency | 2,986 |
| (1)Production process | 2,848 |
| (2)Secondary materials costs | 138 |
| Reduction in waste treatment costs | -121 |
| Profit from sale of valuable resources | 208 |
| Total | 3,338 |
Cost of Environmental Conservation:Investment and Expenditure
Economic Impact
- *The range of entities for the Environmental Accounting is Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
Employee Initiatives
Ms. NTL,
Environment Health & Safety,
Shin-Etsu Magnetic Materials Vietnam(Vietnam)
1.Please tell us about your current responsibilities.
I am the manager of two departments: the Analysis Department, which analyzes the chemical components of rare earth magnet raw materials, intermediate products, and final products, and the Environment, Safety and Health Department, which handles environmental management. As our business scale expands, the number of employees continues to increase. In January 2023, the Environment, Health and Safety Department was newly established to strengthen employee safety maintenance and further promote environmental conservation.
In addition, I am in charge of our company's RECP1 activities of "Eco-industrial Park Intervention in Viet Nam", a project by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam. This project aims to create a model eco-industrial park that contributes to sustainable industry and to develop it in Vietnam.
2. Please tell us about your company's environmental goals for FY2023?
In FY2023, we will focus on the following four items. We will set specific goals and measures for each item, and check the progress every month.
1. Compliance with laws and requirements from stakeholders
2. Waste management
3. Energy and resource saving
4. Put safety as the first priority
3. How does your plant manage its environmental impact?
We currently manage our environmental impact in the following ways:
1) Manage air environment impact:
We have installed exhaust gas treatment equipment to treat the gases emitted from the production process. It also has a dust filter that removes dust from the exhaust gas before it is released into the environment. The released gas quality meets Vietnam's national technical standards. The output gas emission quality is met Vietnamese national technical standard. Those scrubbers are operated and checked conditions everyday by EHS team.
2) Manage water source environment impact:
① Install wastewater treatment plant to treat all industrial wastewaters generated from productions meeting Vietnam National technical standard before discharging it to river. This system is operated and checked condition everyday by our EHS team. Industrial wastewater sample is monitored everyday by Laboratory.
② Install sewage wastewater treatment plant to treat wastewater come from canteen, hand sink, etc to meet internal regulation of Industrial zone before transferring to Industrial zone to get final treatment.
③ Monitoring industrial wastewater, sewage wastewater, emission gas every 3 months/time by 3rd party.
3) Waste management:
① Our employees sort waste every day. Solid waste storage areas are separated and identified by waste type. Recyclable waste is separated from solid waste and sold to external parties to be used as materials for other companies, thereby contributing to reducing environmental impact.
② We provide training on waste identification and classification for newly hired employees.
4) We got ISO14001 certification in 2018.
5) We keep up to date with and comply with applicable Vietnamese laws and regulations.
6) We hold technical meetings to encourage employees to submit their ideas for improving environmental protection, such as saving water and electricity.
7.) Planting trees at the factory to ensure that the green area is at least 20% of land.
4. What are you doing to comply with environmental laws and regulations?
We have established management processes to keep up to date with and ensure our compliance with laws, regulations and customer requirements. We strive to improve our compliance by regularly checking.
5. What do you want to focus on in the future from the perspective of saving energy, saving resources, and reducing environmental impact?
We will continue to thoroughly comply with applicable environmental regulations. In addition, we will strengthen our efforts to reduce water consumption, save energy, and reduce waste. Furthermore, by actively soliciting ideas from employees, we would like to promote initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of the company as a whole.
- 1RECP (Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production)
The continuous application of preventive environmental strategies to processes, products and services in order to increase efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the environment.