Environmental Report 2010

Significance of the Environmental Report

Significance of the 2010 Environmental Report

Japan's fight against climate change has begun with a 25% reduction declared by former Prime Minister Hatoyama as a halfway-established fact. While there is room for debate on the numerical precision, the fact that this is a major issue for corporate business cannot be denied. Even in regulations on chemical substances, SVHC additions twice a year have become a fact under REACH, and the debate on amending RoHS is actively underway. Biodiversity could be called a new question that makes companies slightly change our way of thinking and the way we pursue environmental activities.

First, I would like to reflect on our environmental activities in FY 2009, which we have been pursuing in light of this situation. Continuing from the previous year, we placed an emphasis on taking steps to address climate change, and in addition to promoting such efforts as reducing materials and implementing green procurement, we brought back cuts in chemical substances, which had not been targeted for the past several years. This is meaningful in the fact that it once again clarifies the intent of our environmental reform activities in our work. We have been able to attain almost all the goals and targets we have set, including these, but cutting average CO2 emissions per unit of real sales was not achieved due to the lagging recovery in production volume, which has been impacted by the current business climate.
An example of new undertakings in FY 2009 includes the no-car day movement at the Akishima Plant, in which employees that commute by car voluntarily use public transportation up to twice a month. Obtaining the understanding of those involved can be seen as an indication of spreading environmental awareness. 
This online environmental report summarizes our FY 2009 environmental activities. Nothing would please me more than to hear your opinions on how we could make further improvements to our environmental activities.