Materials/ Energy

HOME
CSR
Materials/ Energy

Material Issue Materials

Targets/Vision
●Reduce raw material input intensity of raw material-related waste by 5% compared to the fiscal 2021 result

Management and Promotion Method of Materials

[Responsible Departments]

Business divisions
Manufacturing Planning Center

Coordinating office: Planning Department of Manufacturing Planning Center

[Policy/Point of view]

The Group sets forth the preservation of the global environment in the “Group Code of Conduct” and the “Environmental Basic Policy” and strives to save resources and energy and reduce wastes and hazardous substances in each stage of technology development, design, procurement, production, sale, and use of products and services.

[Targets/Vision]

Reduce raw material input intensity of raw material-related waste by 5% compared to the fiscal 2021 result

[Measures]

Use intensity (raw material-related wastes/raw material input) as a management indicator and set reduction target for intensity, with the monthly results of each business facility managed by the Company-Wide Environment Committee.
Promotion method: Set a reduction target for failure and loss for each line, set an agenda for reduction and promote improvement.

Use of raw materials without waste

The Company’s industrial waste largely consists of rubber and plastics. As rubber is difficult to reuse, the Company strives to reduce waste primarily by curbing waste generation at manufacturing sites. As initiatives to reduce wastes related to existing products, we promote manufacturing that does not reduce efficiency even in small batch customization through production planning and process improvement, in addition to reducing loss and defective products through day-to-day improvement activities. In fiscal 2021, raw material input intensity of raw material-related waste was 0.090 (intensity: t/t). In fiscal 2022, we will further promote development of products and new production methods considering the waste reduction from the designing stage.

*Definition of zero emissions: Final landfill disposal rate of less than 1% (final landfill disposal rate = final landfill disposal volume/volume of waste generation)

Raw material-related wastes, intensity of raw material input (Bando Chemical Industries)

Material Issue Energy

Targets/Vision
●Reduce five-year average of raw material input* intensity by 1% or more every year

*To avoid the impact of outliers resulting from a decrease in production volume due to COVID-19, the fiscal 2019 value was used as the standard value instead of the five-year average as a temporary measure.

Management and Promotion Method of Energy

[Responsible Departments]

Manufacturing Planning Center　
Business divisions

Coordinating office: Company-Wide Environment Committee (Secretariat: Safety and Environmental Promotion Department of Manufacturing Planning Center)

[Policy/Point of view]

[Targets/Vision]

Reduce energy consumption (KL)/Raw material input (t) from the previous year’s level, and decrease the 5-year average reduction rate by 1% or more (consistent with the target of the Energy Conservation Act)

[Measures]

1. Enhance energy management technology through trainings for energy management engineers
2. Use external energy-saving analysis and energy-saving patrol to check the effects and consider improvements
3. Improve energy efficiency of facilities by fully considering energy-saving at the time of new installation or renewal

Reduce energy consumption

In fiscal 2021, as part of the ESCO project at Nankai Plant, we utilized the subsidy for the advanced energy investment promotion support project by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to upgrade water tube boilers to once-through boilers and switch to LED lighting in the facility. As a result, we achieved an annual energy saving of 650.4 KL in crude-oil equivalent and an annual reduction in CO2 emissions of 814 tons. In addition, Kakogawa Plant upgraded its substation transformers to high-efficiency ones, Ashikaga Plant updated the air conditioners in some buildings to high-efficiency ones, and the Head Office switched its high-pressure boilers to low-pressure ones based on the past record to save energy.
As a result, in fiscal 2021, although energy consumption intensity improved from the previous fiscal year, we were not able to achieve our target due to a significant energy loss resulting from long-term equipment shutdowns associated with the aging of facilities.

Energy consumption per volume of raw material input (Bando Chemical Industries)

Introducing renewable energy

The Company actively uses renewable energy. We started introducing solar power generation systems gradually in our domestic plants since fiscal 2010. Ashikaga PlaAshikaga Plant sells electricity that it generates to electricity retailers using Japan’s Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) scheme for renewable energy. In April 2021, Bando Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd. (a production base in Thailand) introduced a solar power generation facility with a power generation capacity of 997.92 kW.

● Energy production in 2021

Business facilities introduced solar power generation systems	Wakayama Plant	Kakogawa Plant	Nankai Plant	Ashikaga Plant	Bando Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd.
Solar cell capacity (kW)	150	160	200	1,750	997.92
Annual energy production (thousand kWh)	160	165	255	2,279	1,296.77

*Electricity generated at Ashikaga Plant (BANDO eco moving Ashikaga solar power facility) is sold to electricity retailers through our group company using the FIT system for renewable energy.

Solar panels at the BANDO eco moving solar power facility

CASEBando Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd. introduced a solar power generation facility

●Purpose: Contribution to the global environment and reduction of environmental impact by reducing CO₂ emissions
●Power generation capacity: 997.92 kW
●Point: Installed solar panels on the roof of the plant. Covers approximately 10% of the plant's total electricity consumption
●CO₂ emission reduction: 738 t-CO₂ per year

TOPICSApproach to environmentally-friendly office

As part of our group-wide initiative to switch to LED lighting, in fiscal 2020, we switched the lighting of the office building at Head Office to LED lighting, reducing annual power consumption by 91,110kWh. Since fiscal 2019, the Head Office has participated in “Kansai Eco Office,” an activity organized by Union of Kansai Governments which registers offices engaging in environmental activities such as energy saving as “environmentally-friendly offices.” Our efforts include using recycled water for toilet, dissolving paper waste such as unnecessary documents (recycled as toilet paper) and collecting/recycling cardboard boxes and used paper. In addition, all employees made a united effort to promote eco-office initiatives including the “Cool/Warm Biz campaigns” which maintain the room temperature at 28℃ in summer and 19℃ in winter with employees working in comfortable clothes throughout the year and the movements to automatically turn off the light and let in external light from windows during lunch break and to use stairs instead of elevators. In local community, we participated in a “Social experimentation of common boarding pass,” which encourages to use bus instead of Port Liner to mitigate congestion of Port Liner, by Kobe City in order to avoid the three C’s (closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.	LED lightening of the office building at Head Office

As part of our group-wide initiative to switch to LED lighting, in fiscal 2020, we switched the lighting of the office building at Head Office to LED lighting, reducing annual power consumption by 91,110kWh. Since fiscal 2019, the Head Office has participated in “Kansai Eco Office,” an activity organized by Union of Kansai Governments which registers offices engaging in environmental activities such as energy saving as “environmentally-friendly offices.” Our efforts include using recycled water for toilet, dissolving paper waste such as unnecessary documents (recycled as toilet paper) and collecting/recycling cardboard boxes and used paper. In addition, all employees made a united effort to promote eco-office initiatives including the “Cool/Warm Biz campaigns” which maintain the room temperature at 28℃ in summer and 19℃ in winter with employees working in comfortable clothes throughout the year and the movements to automatically turn off the light and let in external light from windows during lunch break and to use stairs instead of elevators. In local community, we participated in a “Social experimentation of common boarding pass,” which encourages to use bus instead of Port Liner to mitigate congestion of Port Liner, by Kobe City in order to avoid the three C’s (closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

LED lightening of the office building at Head Office

TOPICSTOPICS: Head Office declared as Kansai Eco Office

The Company declared its further engagement in environmental activities as an “environmentally-friendly office” in April 2019. “Kansai Eco Office” is an activity undertaken by Union of Kansai Governments, which registers offices engaging in environmental activities such as energy saving as an “environmentally-friendly office.” Our efforts in fiscal 2019 included appropriate temperature setting of air conditioners, promotion of summer/winter eco-friendly fashion and electricity saving, switching to LED lighting, introduction of energy-saving/new energy equipment, promotion of green purchasing, waste recycling, and enlightenment activities for employees. By switching mercury light at workplace of the laboratory building to LED lighting, we were able to reduce power consumption by approximately 62%. Also, LED lighting is well-received by employees as it takes a shorter time to light up than mercury light. We will continue to promote energy saving and also work to realize pleasant working environment.	LED lighting of the laboratory building at Head Office

The Company declared its further engagement in environmental activities as an “environmentally-friendly office” in April 2019. “Kansai Eco Office” is an activity undertaken by Union of Kansai Governments, which registers offices engaging in environmental activities such as energy saving as an “environmentally-friendly office.”
Our efforts in fiscal 2019 included appropriate temperature setting of air conditioners, promotion of summer/winter eco-friendly fashion and electricity saving, switching to LED lighting, introduction of energy-saving/new energy equipment, promotion of green purchasing, waste recycling, and enlightenment activities for employees.
By switching mercury light at workplace of the laboratory building to LED lighting, we were able to reduce power consumption by approximately 62%. Also, LED lighting is well-received by employees as it takes a shorter time to light up than mercury light. We will continue to promote energy saving and also work to realize pleasant working environment.

LED lighting of the laboratory building at Head Office

TOPICSSwitch to high-efficiency equipment and LED lighting system

At Ashikaga Plant, we employed the Ministry of the Environment’s ASSET* to switch to a power generator that uses city gas instead of heavy oil and air conditioning equipment that uses waste hot water from the generator, and also introduced LED lighting. The subsidy is granted for CO₂ emission control measures subject to the introduction of certified products using leading and low-carbon technology. We started to work on the concept in 2015 and it took us three years to evaluate profitability and finalize the plan to apply for the subsidy and finally complete the plan.
The new power generator provides most of the electricity used by the plant (half in the summer and two-thirds in the spring, fall and winter). In fiscal 2018, such equipment replacements and shift to LED lighting reduced CO₂ emissions by 1,606.9t-CO₂, or over 19.5% of the annual CO₂ emissions at Ashikaga Plant.

* ASSET: Advanced technologies promotion Subsidy Scheme with Emission reduction Targets

Improvement of Energy management technology

We have energy management training for energy managers to learn about equipment and design energy saving equipment for manufacturing.