Close
Sustainability
Continuous Improvement of Responsible Care Activities
- HOME >
- Sustainability >
- Continuous Improvement of Responsible Care Activities >
- Water Resources Conservation
Water Resources Conservation
Policy/Philosophy
We manufacture products containing water as a component, such as aqueous ammonia and high-grade urea solution (AdBlue®), and also use water for purification, cleaning, and equipment cooling in manufacturing processes. Accordingly, securing a sufficient amount of water with appropriate quality is important for the continuation of our business.
Considering the significance of accessing to water in our business activities, we comply with water-related laws and regulations, thoroughly manage the water withdrawal and discharge at each plant, and cooperate with local organizations. We will continue to work to conserve water resources, such as improving efficiency of water usage.
System
Indicators
Use of Water Resources
| Indicator | Scope | Unit | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water resources input | Municipal water supplies | non-consolidated | Million m3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Fresh surface water (lakes, rivers, etc.) | non-consolidated | Million m3 | 25.7 | 24.8 | 25.9 | 25.6 | |
| Fresh groundwater | non-consolidated | Million m3 | 17.6 | 17.7 | 17.8 | 16.2 | |
| Total | non-consolidated | Million m3 | 43.4 | 42.6 | 43.8 | 41.9 | |
| Effluent※1 | non-consolidated | Million m3 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | |
| Net fresh water consumption※2 | non-consolidated | Million m3 | 28.3 | 27.8 | 29.5 | 27.8 | |
- 1 Water returned to the source of extraction at similar or higher quality as raw water extracted
- 2 Municipal water supplies + Fresh surface water + Fresh groundwater - Effluent
Activities
Efficient Use of Water Resources
The Toyama Plant is a member of the groundwater use council in the Toyama area, a local council that works to protect the local natural environment and promote the sound development of local communities. Promoting the rational use of groundwater is one of the efforts that we are also involved in. These factors mean that we are working on water resource conservation while complying environmental laws and regulations at each plant and cooperating with local organizations.
▲Shomyo Falls and Hannoki Falls, into which meltwater from the Tateyama Mountain Range flows
▲Toyama Plant and Tateyama Mountain Range seen from the Ida River
Water Risk Assessment
We conduct water risk assessment of our manufacturing facilities and those of our overseas consolidated subsidiaries to grasp risks related to water use and effluent, etc. in our group.
Assessment by AQUEDUCT (conducted in April 2023)
As a potential water-related risk assessment in the region where manufacturing facilities of Nissan Chemical Corporation and our overseas consolidated subsidiaries are located, we used AQUEDUCT (https://www.wri.org/aqueduct) WATER RISK ATLAS of World Research Institute (WRI).
<Target facilities>
Sodegaura Plant (Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture: Japan)
Sodegaura Plant Goi Works (Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture: Japan)
Saitama Plant (Saitama, Saitama Prefecture: Japan)
Toyama Plant (Toyama, Toyama Prefecture: Japan)
Nagoya Plant (Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture: Japan)
Onoda Plant (Sanyo-Onoda, Yamaguchi Prefecture: Japan)
Nissan Chemical America Corporation (NCA) (Texas: USA)
NCK Co., Ltd. (NCK) (Pyeongtaek: Korea)
Nissan Bharat Rasayan PVT. LTD. (NBR) (Gujarat: India)
<Assessed water-related risks>
- Physical risk (quantity)
①Water stress ②Water depletion ③Interannual variability ④Seasonal variability⑤Groundwater table decline ⑥Riverine flood ⑦Coastal flood ⑧Drought - Physical risk (quality)
⑨Untreated connected wastewater ⑩Coastal eutrophication potential - Regulation and reputation risk
⑪Unimproved / no drinking water ⑫Unimproved/ no sanitation ⑬ESG risk
In eight of nine regions where our manufacturing facilities are located, overall risk has been evaluated as "low to medium" and overall water risk tends to be low. On the other hand, it is confirmed in the region where Nissan Bharat Rasayan PVT. LTD. (NBR: India), our overseas consolidated subsidiary, is located, overall risk has been evaluated as "extremely high".
In the region where NBR is located, risks related to water shortages and quality has been evaluated as “extremely high”. The results of the re-assessment at AQUEDUCT 4.0 updated in August 2023 indicated that the risk of water depletion has become a more severe evaluation result. It is considered that the shortage of water as a resource is the most noteworthy risk, which is followed by the water quality.
In addition, as a result of assessment of Water stress, Seasonal variability, Water demand and Water supplies for the region where NBR is located based on more severe pessimistic scenarios* for 2040, risks related to water stress and water demand were evaluated to become higher in the future.
- The scenarios which represents a world with potential impacts on water use, including uneven economic development, population growth, declining GDP growth rate and declining urbanization rate, and in which CO2 levels will reach about 1370ppm by 2100 and global mean temperatures will rise by 2.6 to 4.8°C compared to levels from 1986 to 2005.
Initiatives to reduce water risks in NBR
NBR is a manufacturing facility for the production of agrochemicals and has been in full operation since April 2023. Water supplied to NBR is solely from industrial water from the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), and NBR do not use municipal water and groundwater pumping.
NBR not only uses water efficiently in the production of agrochemicals, but also reuses wastewater generated in the manufacturing process without discharging it externally through the wastewater treatment process, in which wastewater is filtrated using reverse osmosis membranes. This reduces the risk associated with water shortages, and also minimizes the possibility of pollution of the external water system due to effluent.
