Sustainability ESG Management: The Environment / Environmental Considerations during Business Operations

Resource Recycling (Waste)

Basic Approach

To help build a recycling-oriented society, the Group is working to reduce the waste we generate and to improve recycling rates based on the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle. We believe that the Group’s social role in building a recycling-oriented society is extremely important, and we will contribute to creating a sustainable society through our initiatives from a variety of perspectives.

Initiatives to Reduce Waste Generation

The main waste materials generated from our business operations are scrap metals (grinding sludge), waste oil, sludge, grinding wheels, and waste plastic. Our medium- to long-term target for waste generation reduction is to achieve a recycling rate of 96% or higher by fiscal 2031 and a 92% reduction in final disposal by fiscal 2026. Our main initiatives to help reach these targets are compressing scrap metals (grinding sludge) and reusing packaging materials in special boxes for transportation. Furthermore, we are implementing initiatives to minimize waste, such as reducing the use of plastic containers in factory cafeterias, discontinuing the use of plastic containers for beverages, employing options to decrease cushioning materials by reviewing our packaging materials, and promoting paperless environments by transitioning to digital technologies.

Introduction of industrial waste recycling

Metal scrap (grinding sludge), a byproduct of the grinding process, is both highly moist and difficult to dispose of, so in the past it was sent to landfills by specialized companies. However, in light of our social role in building a recycling-oriented society, we are now compressing and reducing the volume of metal scrap (grinding sludge) in-house in order to recycle it.

Shipping with special reusable boxes to save resources

Special, strong cardboard boxes are used for packaging our products, which are precision parts.

Generally, these cardboard boxes are recycled after delivery. However, for some of our customers, we use special returnable boxes. The returnable boxes are collected and then reused for the next shipment.

This allows us to effectively utilize limited resources.

Reducing Environmentally Hazardous Substances

Basic Approach

Believing that providing environmentally friendly products to our customers will contribute to the improvement of the global environment, the Group has been promoting green procurement since 2003. We have established the Green Procurement Standard and have been working together with our suppliers. Prohibited substances are restricted for intentional use under international laws and regulations, including the RoHS II Directive and the TSCA regulation, the European and US hazardous substance control laws, respectively. Where there is a regulated threshold value, a guarantee is required so that the concentration is less than that value. We believe it is important to have a clear understanding of the substances we use and their regulated concentrations. Therefore, we are happy to provide information on these substances upon request from our customers.

Hazardous Substance Management Initiatives

Substances subject to notification under the PRTR Law are strictly controlled and reported annually to local governments.

Green Procurement

The Company Group is proactively working to help preserve the global environment.

Since the 1998 fiscal year, NIPPON THOMPSON has been engaging in corporate activities in harmony with our basic philosophy, which is “to accomplish environment-friendly corporate activities as corporate social responsibility, reduce our environmental loads, and contribute to fulfillment of rich global environment.”

We believe that delivering environmentally-friendly products to our customers will help to preserve the environment. In 2003, “Green Procurement Standard” were established for promoting green procurement based on the understanding and cooperation of our business partners.

Based on this standard, we investigate and assess the load placed on the environment by our business partners and procured goods, and endeavor to promote Green Procurement together with our business partners in order to help create a rich global environment.

Compliance with the EU’s RoHS Directive

All products (standard products) are in compliance with the EU’s RoHS10 Directive in accordance with our own environmental management standards

Our products (standard products) are produced at a quality level that has received ISO-14001 and ISO-9001 certification based on our management systems that reduce load on the global environment. All of our products are also in compliance with the EU’s RoHS10 Directive.

Water Resources

Basic Approach

The Gifu factory complex, the Group’s domestic production center, is next to the Nagara River, one of the three clearest rivers in Japan, and we consider the management of water resources to be an important issue for environmental conservation. In addition to reducing water consumption by reusing water, we will continue our initiatives for strict water quality control that follow all laws and regulations.

Initiatives for Water Resource Conservation

In some cases, the Group’s business operations use a large amount of water, and the main applications are fluid for grinding and cooling water used during production. However, for these applications, we basically employ a circulation method, and our facilities are designed to minimize water use, replenishing only the amount of water that decreases due to natural evaporation. Further, we are moving ahead with plans to further reduce water consumption, including replacing hot water boilers and water-cooled cooling towers with air-cooled versions.