Environmental Management
Maxell Group sees global warming and other global environmental issues as an urgent issue. To resolve this issue, we have introduced a company-wide environmental management system and are promoting Group-wide initiatives.
Creation of Economic Value through Environmental Activities
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・Scope3 ・Visualization of environmental performance through LCA ・Recycling of products ・Prevention of global warming ・CO2 emissions ・Ascertain intensity per production/transportation energy ・Waste reduction and recycling ・Water consumption reduction activity
Environmental Management
In light of developments such as the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, there is a growing demand for companies to make even greater contributions towards achieving a sustainable society. Maxell Group recognizes that alongside enhancing corporate value, it must play a more significant role in environmental conservation.
Maxell Group is committed to environmental initiatives,including efforts to help prevent global warming, in accordance with its "Environmental Conservation Action Guidelines."*1 The environmental activities of Maxell Group are led by the president and are conducted in line with the environmental management system. We ensure compliance with regulations such as the REACH regulation and the RoHS directive and are steadily reinforcing our compliance efforts. We are also bolstering our focus on activities aimed at achieving environmental results based on the ISO14001:2015 standards.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) launched the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) to promote the identification and disclosure of the risks and opportunities that climate change presents to companies and financial markets. In October 2021, Maxell announced its endorsement of the TCFD's recommendations and is now conducting scenario analyses.
*1 Environmental Conservation Action Guidelines (Japanese)
Establishment of Maxell Group's Environmental Vision
Since the coming into effect of the Paris Agreement, companies have been expected to reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions,irrespective of business expansion. Maxell has been working to reduce the environmental impact of its manufacturing activities for some time. Maxell has identified "Creating Economic Value through Environmental Activities" as an important issue (materiality) and is conducting business operations with the target of reducing CO2emissions.
In 2020, the Japanese government set the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, thereby necessitating even greater CO2reduction efforts.
Maxell Group has established the Environmental Vision in July 2023 and is pursuing a variety of initiatives on the way to achievingits goal of reducing domestic CO2 emissions by 50% from the fiscal 2013 levels by fiscal 2030 to achieve a carbon-free society (Scope 1 and 2 emissions). Additionally, looking towards 2050, the group will continue with efforts such as factory energy efficiencyboosting initiatives, increased use of renewable energy, and the use of non-fossil certificates. The group will also contribute to the achievement of carbon neutrality by fiscal 2050 (global Scope 1 and 2 emissions) and the realization of a sustainable society through the implementation of decarbonization technologies developed by Maxell Group. This includes "Electrolytic Reactors" used in the electrolytic reduction of CO2 developed through the production of electrodes using dispersion and coating technologies which are the Analog Core Technologies that Maxell has developed over the years in the course of developing and manufacturing products like magnetic tapes and lithium-ion batteries.
To contribute to achieving a recycling-oriented society, Maxell Group has also set targets to reduce waste intensity per production as a way to promote waste-free design and manufacturing throughout the entire Group. The initial focus will be on reducing loss resulting from manufacturing errors. Additionally, in response to growing concern over plastic wasterelated issues like ocean plastic pollution, the group has set the target of commencing chemical and material recycling of composite plastic waste generated at its facilities by fiscal 2030.
Environmental Vision
Implementation of Maxell Group Environmental Action Plan for Fiscal 2022
Based on the belief that environmental activities and contribution to business performance should be managed in an integrated manner, Maxell Group aims to motivate its workforce through the management of indicators (on intensity per production basis:amount consumed/amount produced) that help to visualize efforts for improvement. The indicator we used until the previous fiscal year, which was based on intensity per net sales, is no longer used due to the increasing cost of electricity and other energy resulting from soaring crude oil prices and the rising waste disposal costs,which made it impossible to provide appropriate evaluations.
In fiscal 2022, we successfully achieved the target for energy and waste intensity per production. However, in terms of the target for water usage intensity per production, which had not been achieved, we fell short of the target due to our inability to reduce the fixed water usage volume in line with the decrease in production amount. We will persevere with efforts to make improvements and conserve water.
In fiscal 2022, Maxell Group experienced no significant environmental incidents, and was subject to no environmental fines or complaints. Additionally, with the enforcement of the Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act, we conducted both simplified inspections (quarterly) and statutory inspections. These inspections showed an annual leakage of 167 tons of fluorocarbons, a volume that is below the reporting threshold.