CSR

Reduction of Industrial Waste and Pollutant Emissions

Policy/Philosophy

With the development of socio-economics, there is a call to move away from the "mass production, mass consumption, mass disposal" system and reduce resource consumption by promoting efficient use and recycling of substances from production to distribution, consumption, and disposal to form a “recycling society” which will have less impact on the environment.

Therefore, our Group is further promoting the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) through responsible care activities, striving to reduce waste and make effective use of it.

Furthermore, with regard to the emission of chemical substances generated by production activities into the atmosphere, waters, and soil, appropriate management shall be conducted to comply with emission standards set forth by various laws and regulations as well as regulatory values based on local agreements to reduce the burden on people's health and the environment.

• Responsible Care Basic Policy

System

• RC Management System

Indicators

Waste

Indicator	Scope	Unit	FY2015	FY2016	FY2017	Target (Year)
Volume of waste generation	non-consolidated	1000tons	33.4	33.7	34.7	‐
Recycled volume	non-consolidated	1000tons	4.5	3.8	5.6	-
Final disposal volume	non-consolidated	1000tons	2.2	1.1	0.8	-
Recycling rate	non-consolidated	%	－	－	97.9	99.5 (2021)

Emissions to Atmosphere

Indicator	Scope	Unit	FY2015	FY2016	FY2017
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)※	non-consolidated	ton	1.7	1.5	0.5
NOx	non-consolidated	ton	158	148	112
SOx	non-consolidated	ton	391	382	192

• Including other than benzene and formaldehyde

Control of Waste Water

Indicator	Scope	Unit	FY2015	FY2016	FY2017
COD emissions	non-consolidated	ton	279	294	291
Total phosphorus emissions	non-consolidated	ton	14	18	13
Total nitrogen emissions	non-consolidated	ton	3064	3356	2879

PRTR Substances

Indicator		Scope	Unit	FY2015	FY2016	FY2017
Emissions of PRTR Substances	Atmosphere	non-consolidated	ton	1.7	1.5	0.5
	Waters	non-consolidated	ton	0.5	0.4	0.4
	Soil	non-consolidated	ton	0	0	0
	Total※	non-consolidated	ton	2.2	1.8	0.9

• Due to rounding off figures, there are places where the sums for each item do not match the total.

Activities

Reduction of Waste

We thoroughly implement control measures to ensure the proper disposal of waste, while also are striving to reduce industrial waste. We also applied electronic manifests using legal compliance system for waste.

Waste water discharged in the manufacturing process accounts for the majority of our industrial waste. We treat this waste internally by means of combustion. The amount of waste generated began to rise in FY2014 due to an increase in the production volume of organic fine chemicals and flame retardants attributed to their new uses. As for solid waste, we reuse sludge as feedstock for the base course material of roads and cement. In addition, at the Toyama Plant, we promote the recycling of waste plastics and the conversion of such plastics to valuables, and we have changed the method of their intermediate processing to increase the recycling volume. As a result, the final disposal volume of FY2017 reduced compared to that of FY2016. The recycling rate^※ was calculated and confirmed to be 97.9% in FY2017. Our goal is to achieve a recycling rate of 99.5% or higher.

• Recycling rate (%)＝[Recycled volume (ton)+Volume of valuable regenerative (ton)＋Volume of reduction (ton)]÷[Volume of waste generation (ton)＋Volume of valuable regenerative (ton)]×100

Reduction of Emissions of VOCs

We regularly take initiatives to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which cause the formation of photochemical oxidants. Among the twelve substances of VOCs which were selected, formulated voluntary management plan, and worked on reduction by chemical industry, three (1,2-dichloroethane, benzene, and formaldehyde) were handled in the Company. As a result of measures such as the introduction of VOC removal equipment, 1,2-dichloroethane has not been discharged to the atmosphere since 2006. In addition, emissions of benzene have been eliminated since FY2017 due to the conversion of naphtha to natural gas as a fuel and feedstock. We are also reducing emissions of formaldehyde through measures such as sealing facilities and combustion treatment of exhaust gases.

Control of Exhaust Gas

We control exhaust gas by observing the discharge standards in the "Air Pollution Control Act" and regulatory values based on agreements with local communities. We maintain the proper conditions in our desulfurization facilities and denitrification facilities in an effort to control the emissions of air pollutants such as sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx). In FY2017, SOx emissions was reduced by 50% compared to that of previous fiscal year by boiler fuel conversion to natural gas.

Control of Waste Water

Our plants observe the discharge standards stipulated in the "Water Pollution Control Act" and regulatory values based on agreements with local communities. In addition, at the Onoda Plant, we have been taking measures to maintain the quality of waste water discharged from the plant in line with the "Act on Special Measures concerning Conservation of the Environment of the Seto Inland Sea". We monitor the chemical oxygen demand (COD), the total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentration in waste water of each plant on a regular basis. In FY2017, the emissions of all of them decreased compared to that of previous fiscal year.

Reduction of Emissions of PRTR Substances

In FY2017, we emitted 60 chemical substances whose emissions must be registered in accordance with the "Act on Confirmation, etc. of Release Amounts of Specific Chemical Substances in the Environment and Promotion of Improvements to the Management Thereof (PRTR law)". The main substances emitted were formaldehyde and n-hexane. Formaldehyde is used as a reaction solvent. n-Hexane has been greatly reduced by switching fuel and feedstock from naphtha to natural gas.

As a result, the total emissions have been significantly reduced by half emissions to the atmosphere and waters totaled 0.92 tons, of 0.47 tons and 0.45 tons, respectively. We will continue to take steps to control the emissions. We did not emit these substances into the soil.