We report efforts and achievements for the environmental load in FY 2020 indicated in the page of "Environmental Aspect in Corporate Activities."
The following report covers TAIYO YUDEN CO., LTD.: six sites, and its domestic and overseas consolidated subsidiaries.
Compliance, Monitoring
We report the result of compliance and monitoring at each site in FY 2020.
GHG, Energy
There are three categories for greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted during the course of business activities: Direct emissions from use of energy (SCOPE 1), Indirect emissions from energy use (SCOPE 2) and Indirect emissions other than from energy use (SCOPE 3). GHG emissions cannot be easily measured, so we concentrate on energy use and reducing energy consumption.
In FY2020, the amount of GHG emitted by the entire group increased by 52,000 t-CO2e compared to FY2019. Specifically, the domestic sites increased their emissions from 200,000 t-CO2e in FY2019 to 227,000 t-CO2e, and overseas sites increased theirs from 232,000 t-CO2e in FY2019 to 257,000 t-CO2e (see G1).
The amount of energy used by the entire group increased by 2,500 kL compared to FY2019. Specifically, sites in Japan increased their usage to 117,000 kL from 102,000 kL in FY2019, Overseas sites increased theirs from 128,000 kL in FY2019 to 138,000 kL (see G2).
Energy usage is broken down into 91% for SCOPE 2 and 9% for SCOPE 1 (see G3).
Improvement in energy intensity, which we aim to achieve in the medium term environmental target, was 22.4% on average for FY2016–FY2020 (see G4).
We will continue to review production processes with a focus on core products to further improve the production efficiency and lower energy usage.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand from our stakeholders to disclose information on SCOPE3 emissions, in addition to information on SCOPE1 and SCOPE2 emissions. In order to respond to such a demand, we are striving to keep track of our SCOPE3 emissions.
Waste, Water
We strive to reduce environmental effect on biodiversity while coexisting with nature, and we use the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) to reduce waste and make effective use of water resources.
The amount of waste generated in FY2020 by the entire group increased to 25,600 tons from 24,000 tons in FY2019. This increase was caused by an increase in production volume and other factors (see G1).
The waste (including valuables) mainly consists of waste plastic, waste oil, and sludge (see G2).
The final amount of waste disposed of inside Japan decreased to 38 tons in FY2019. The waste recycling rate, which we aim to improve in the medium term, was 99.6% (see G3).
The total amount of waste disposed of outside Japan increased to 2,200 tons from 2,000 tons in FY2019 (see G4).
Improvement in waste generation per unit of production, which we aim to achieve as a medium-term environmental goal, was 11.8% on average for FY2016-FY2020 (see G5). The final amount of waste disposed of per unit of production was improved by 37.3% on average for FY2016–FY2020 (see G6).
We will continue working to reduce waste volumes, boost in-house recycling rates, and recycle waste into resources at our overseas sites.
* This includes the results of the four ELNA companies that have been our consolidated subsidiaries since FY2020.
Definition of waste: general waste, industrial waste, and items having resale value.
99.9% of the waste generated in the course of our business activities is recycled and reused as resources in society. However, we are also promoting efforts to reuse waste for the business activities of the Taiyo Yuden Group.
For solvent A, which is the most frequently used solvent in our business activities, 24% of the amount used is recycled waste solvent.
In addition, for reels that are used for packaging electronic parts, strict quality checks are performed and 9% of all the reels are recycled reels.
The water usage of the entire group decreased from 4,249,000 m3 in FY2019 to 4,149,000 m3 in FY2020. Specifically, the sites in Japan decreased their usage to 1,634,000 m3 from 1,710,000 m3 in FY2019, while the sites outside Japan decreased to 2,515,000 m3 from 2,539,000 m3 in FY2019 (see G7).
Improvement in water usage per unit of production, which we aim to achieve in the medium-term environmental target, was 27.3% on average for FY2016–FY2020 (see G8).
The amount of recycled water was 276,000 m3.
* This includes the results of the four ELNA companies that have been our consolidated subsidiaries since FY2020.
Environmental action case
Various processes use water in the plating line. Water use was reduced by changing the method of supplying water used in the process for feeding products to plating baths.
The amount of water reduced was 720 t per year.
Biodiversity action case