The Tokai Carbon Group treats protection of the global environment as one of its highest management priorities. To harmonize our business activities with environmental needs, we have implemented an environmental management system based on the ISO 14001 international standard. Toward that same end, we also qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the environmental impacts of our usiness activities, focusing on production and distribution, and take various steps to reduce them. We believe these efforts will also contribute to the realization of a sustainable society. To facilitate our environmental protection activities, we have established an environmental philosophy and environmental policy for the entire Tokai Carbon Group.
The Tokai Carbon Group views the protection of the global environment as
one of its highest-priority management issues.
We work to achieve harmony between business activities and the environment, and conduct
activities towards the realization of a sustainable society.
In consideration of the impact of corporate activities on ecosystems and biodiversity, we will strive to protect the environment by ensuring compliance with environmental laws, ordinances, and agreements, as well as by establishing self-management standards as necessary.
We will preserve the global environment by conserving resources and energy, minimizing waste, and reducing emissions of global warming and hazardous substances. In particular, we will strive to reduce CO2 emissions to achieve carbon neutrality, as well as to use water efficiently and manage wastewater appropriately.
We will maintain and improve our environmental management system and develop our corporate activities in consideration of the global environment within the framework of appropriate governance.
We will raise the environmental awareness of each and every employee and make group-wide efforts to preserve the global environment.
We will disclose environment-related information related to our corporate activities in a timely and appropriate manner to fulfill our accountability to our stakeholders.
The Group's environmental policy and initiatives are subject to approval
by the Executives Meeting and the Board of Directors.
Further, we hold environmental disaster prevention division meetings for each division to
confirm the details of environmental initiatives and the progress of disaster prevention plans
at each business site, and promote activities related to environmental disaster prevention.
In order to promote environmentally friendly corporate activities, we have acquired environmental management system (ISO 14001) certification at each site and are working to reduce environmental risks.
The acquisition status of ISO 14001 certification is 100% for domestic
production bases and 83.3% for main production bases of the Group companies including overseas.
(As of the end of August 2022)
Further, we regularly conduct internal audits by appointed auditors and external audits by an
external environmental certification body to enhance the effectiveness of our environmental
conservation activities. There were no serious findings in the external audit.
We have acquired ISCC PLUS(※), an international certification for sustainable products, at our Carbon Black manufacturing plants in Chita and North America. By supplying certified materials, we will continue to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.
We herewith declare our commitment to comply with the ISCC PLUS requirements in accordance with the latest ISCC regulations.
※ISCC PLUS
ISCC(International Sustainability and Carbon Certification)is an international certification system for sustainability and carbon. Its system monitors and assures compliance of bio-based and circular materials (sustainable feedstocks) manufactured and supplied worldwide along the supply chain.
In advancing its environmental activities, Tokai Carbon undertakes initiatives focused on the following five targets.
Tokai Carbon places importance on coexistence with local communities and organizes and
appropriately complies with related laws, ordinances, as well as arrangements and
agreements concluded with the local communities. We also respond appropriately to
matters that pose problems in the local community, even if they fall below the
established standards.
In 2022, there were no serious violations of laws, regulations, or ordinances, and there
were no environmental lawsuits or fines at any of the Group's business sites. No serious
environmental complaints have been reported either.
We recognize that responding to climate change is an important management issue for the
Tokai Carbon Group in order to realize a sustainable society. The Group is working
toward the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 25% (compared with 2018) by 2030 in order
to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050.
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We are working to reduce water consumption by clearly understanding the amount of water
required for production and limiting excess water usage. In 2022, the target of reducing
the amount by at least 1% from the FY2018 level was addressed only at Tokai Carbon’s
sites, and was achieved with a 4% reduction. In 2023, we will expand the target scope to
the main Group companies and work to reduce water usage with the goal of being below the
amount used in 2021 (9 million m3/year).
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The Company is focusing on further reducing the amount of outsourced disposal and final
disposal by reducing the amount of industrial waste, avoiding the generation of
industrial waste, thoroughly separating industrial waste, and recycling waste.
In 2022, we set targets of a recycling rate of 80% or more and a final disposal rate of
25% or less, and achieved the targets with a recycling rate of 87% and a final disposal
rate of 18%.
In 2023, we will continue to work toward our targets of a recycling rate of 80% or more
and a final disposal rate of 25% or less.
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In order to reduce the environmental burden on the atmosphere, the Company has set a target of reducing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to 90% or less compared with 2015 (base year) every year, and has achieved the target in the last four years.
In order to reduce the environmental impact of our business activities, we have formulated specific measures to achieve the above goals and are actually carrying them out. We will also promote energy and resource conservation activities for transportation, raw materials, secondary materials, packing and packaging materials, etc., by shortening transportation distances, improving loading efficiency and others in cooperation with transportation companies and recipients. Tokai Unyu, a Group company that handles our products as a transportation department, also strives to reduce the environmental burden by introducing fuel-efficient vehicles and promoting eco-driving, joint delivery, etc.
To promote the Company’s environmental initiatives, it is important for
each employee to increase their understanding of environmental issues and act with environmental
awareness.
Tokai Carbon outlines environmental education and awareness activities in our environmental
policy and proactively conducts various education and awareness activities related to the
environment.
Under our environmental management system, we have established structures and procedures to
identify the potential for an environmental pollution accident, engage in environmental
pollution prevention and, in the event of an emergency, minimize the environmental impact.
We also systematically conduct educational activities to ensure the development of credentialed
environmental engineers, including the pollution prevention managers and energy management
technicians, required for our business activities.