Water resource

Basic ideas

Basic ideas for water resource

Water is essential for Tokai Carbon’s business activities, and we are also aware that it is a vital resource in the local communities where our manufacturing plants are located. We are promoting efficient use of water companywide as water recycling and manufacturing process improvements.

Objectives

We are committed to reducing water consumption by clearly identifying the amount of water required for production and reducing excess water use. In 2022, we worked on the target of reducing usage at Tokai Carbon’s operation sites by at least 1% from the FY2018 level, and achieved the target with a 4% reduction. In 2023, we will expand the target scope to our major Group companies to reduce water usage with the goal of being below the 2021 level (9 million m3/year).

Targets and progress are discussed in the Sustainability Committee, chaired by the president, and reported to the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis.

Initiatives

Water risk assessment

We identify areas of water stress by referring to the WRI Aqueduct. In 2022, we conducted a survey of all 51 sites(*1) in Japan and overseas, including our head office, branch offices, and group companies.
Of these, five sites were identified as having high water stress (*2). Apart from one sales site, we conducted a detailed survey of past floods, droughts and water consumption for each site to confirm that they are at low risk.

  • *1 As of September 2022
  • *2 Sites that were classified as "High" for overall water risk among the risk items in the chemical industry of WRI Aqueduct.

Initiatives to reduce water consumption

Tokai Carbon’s operation sites take various measures to achieve the goal of reducing water consumption.

Business Site Initiative
Graphite electrodes Domestic productions sites Adjustment of industrial water intake
Overseas production sites Recycle and reuse of cooling water in the graphitization process
Carbon black Overseas production sites Capital investment for leakage control

Performance

Environmental data

In calculating performance, water consumption is computed as the amount taken in.

Amount of water intake (1,000 m3)

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Amount of water intake Tokai Carbon 2,880 2,846 2,637 2,880 2,760
Tokai Carbon Group - 8,937 7,836 9,006 8,726
(Breakdown)Tap water Tokai Carbon 277 326 290 292 366
Tokai Carbon Group - 2,893 2,448 2,818 2,743
River(industrial water) Tokai Carbon 1,858 1,801 1,697 1,908 1,727
Tokai Carbon Group - 3,009 2,770 3,073 2,771
Ground water Tokai Carbon 745 719 649 680 668
Tokai Carbon Group - 2,983 2,597 3,062 3,048
Others Tokai Carbon Group - 52 21 54 164
  • *Period of calculation: January to December each year
  • *The scope of reporting:
    Tokai Carbon : Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd.
    Tokai Carbon Group: Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd., Tokai ErftCarbon GmbH, Tokai Carbon GE LLC, Tokai Carbon CB Ltd., Cancarb Limited, Thai Tokai Carbon Product Co.,Ltd., Tokai Fine Carbon Co., Ltd. , Tokai Carbon Korea Co., Ltd., Tokai COBEX Polska sp. z o.o., Tokai COBEX Savoie SAS

Water intake per unit of sales

2019 2020 2021 2022
34.1 38.9 34.8 25.6
  • Scope of reporting: Consolidated
  • *Water consumption is computed as the amount taken in. The amount of water intake includes tap water, industrial water, ground water and others.

Amount of water drainage (1,000 m3)

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Amount of water output 1,994 2,068 2,010 2,115 2,011
(Breakdown)Sewer 100 108 95 108 134
River 573 578 546 554 564
Sea 1,321 1,382 1,369 1,453 1,312
  • *Period of calculation: January to December each year
  • *The scope of reporting:Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd.

Discharges of Environmentally Hazardous Substances into Water

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Units 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
BOD emissions kg 1,372 1,787 1,781 1,211 1,165
COD emissions kg 6,855 9,369 9,170 9,600 5,878
Total nitrogen t 5.4 6.0 5.2 8.2 8.7
Total phosphorus t 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2
  • Data-gathering period: April to March of the following year.
  • Reporting scope: Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd.
  • * Total nitrogen and Total phosphorus : Business locations that could impact the bodies of water specified in the Ministry of the Environment’s “Environmental Quality Standards for Water Pollution”attached table titled, “Environmental Quality Standards for Conservation of the Living Environment (Coastal waters, lakes)."

Number of violations of water related laws, regulations, etc.

2020 2021 2022
0 0 0
  • Reporting scope: Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd.
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