Materials/ Energy
Material Issue Materials
- Targets/Vision
- ● Raw material input intensity of below fiscal 2022 target (0.089)
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]
Raw material input intensity of below fiscal 2022 target (0.089)
[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 particularly 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 2022, raw material input intensity was 0.099 (intensity: t/t) partly due to repeated test production for the launch of new products.
In fiscal 2023, as in the previous fiscal year, we will promote development of products and new production methods considering the waste reduction from the designing stage.
Raw material-related wastes, intensity of raw material input (Bando Chemical Industries)
Material Issue Energy
- 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)
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]
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.
For energy, each business facility manages energy consumption based on an annual
reduction target.
[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
Our initiatives to reduce energy consumption include conducting energy saving patrols whereby we check the improvement activities and energy usage in the production processes and give guidance to cut energy waste and engaging external energy management experts to get an energy saving diagnosis, based on which we implement systematic measures.
In fiscal 2022, we systematically upgraded transformers and other equipment at each site to those meeting the energy efficiency standard under the Top Runner Program and switched to LED lighting in facilities.
As a result, in fiscal 2022, energy consumption (total volume) decreased year on year, but energy efficiency declined because raw material input also decreased, and therefore we failed to achieve the intensity target.
Energy consumption per volume of raw material input (Bando Chemical Industries)
Introducing renewable energy
We are promoting the introduction and utilization of renewable energy, and since fiscal 2010, we started introducing solar power generation systems gradually in our domestic plants. In fiscal 2022, we added the on-site solar power generation system (power generation capacity: 200kW) to Wakayama Plant. Combined with the energy generated from the existing solar power generation system, the solar energy accounts for approximately 12% of the total electricity used in Wakayama Plant, reducing CO2 emissions by 183t-CO2 per year. In addition, Bando (India) Pvt. Ltd. has installed a solar power generation system with a capacity of 1,000kW at its Bangalore Plant. This is equivalent to about 30% of the total electricity used in the plant, and CO2 emissions will be reduced by 350t-CO2 per year.
● Energy production in 2022
| Business facilities introduced solar power generation systems | Solar cell capacity (kW) | Annual energy production (thousand kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| Wakayama Plant | 350 | 269 |
| Kakogawa Plant | 160 | 171 |
| Nankai Plant | 200 | 208 |
| Ashikaga Plant | 1,750 | 2,424 |
| Bando Manufacturing（Thailand） Ltd. (Production base in Thailand) |
998 | 1,346 |
| Bando (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Production base in India) |
1,000 | 1,001 |
*Electricity generated at Ashikaga Plant (BANDO eco moving Ashikaga solar power facility) is sold to the Tokyo Electric Power Company Group through our group company using the FIT system for renewable energy.
Solar panels at the BANDO eco moving solar power facility
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 |
|---|
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.
