Fighting Global Warming

  • twitter
  • facebook
Listen to this page

Basic Stance

The UACJ Group considers energy conservation to prevent global warming as a priority management issue. The director and executive officer serves as the chief executive officer in charge of energy management. Each year, action goals are set for reducing per-unit energy consumption from the previous fiscal year, and we pursue a policy of steadily implementing every measure possible to achieve the goals.

Our medium-to-long-term objective is to improve our energy consumption per unit of production by an average of at least 1% annually, which is the target presented in the Energy Efficiency Act*. The Climate Change Countermeasure Steering Committee established in April 2021 is charged with promoting these initiatives.

* Act on the Rational Use of Energy

Fiscal 2022 Results

The UACJ Group consumed 19,800,000 GJ of electricity in fiscal 2022, a decrease of 2.0% from FY2021. CO2 emissions totaled 1,008,000 t, with 528,000 t for Scope 1 and 480,000 t for Scope 2 (location-based), a decrease of approximately 29,000 t from fiscal 2021.

CO2 emissions per unit of production were 0.998 t per product ton, a 0.1% decrease from fiscal 2021.

Scope 2 market standard CO2 emissions were 479,000 t.

The decrease in emissions per unit of production is primarily attributable to improvement efforts, which were able to offset the higher per-unit emissions from the lower production volume in fiscal 2022.

UACJ Group CO2 Emissions (Japan + overseas) Note 1

  Fiscal 2019 Fiscal 2020 Fiscal 2021 Note 4 Fiscal 2022 Note 2
Fuel Scope 1
CO2 emissions (thousand tons CO2)
514 493 557 528
Electricity Scope 2
CO2 emissions (thousand tons CO2)
492 446 479 480
Scope 1+2
CO2 emissions (thousand tons CO2)
1,005 939 1,037 1,008
CO2 emissions per product ton Note 3
(t-CO2/product ton)
1.118 1.109 0.999 0.998
  • Note 1: In fiscal 2022, the range of coverage was expanded to include Nikkin Co., Ltd. (Saitama), UACJ Metal Components Corporation (Sendai, Narita, Ena, Shiga, Hiroshima), Nalco Koriyama Co., Ltd., UACJ Aluminum Center Corporation (Fukaya, Shiga, Nara), Izumi Metal Corporation, Kamakura Industry Co., Ltd., UACJ Marketing & Processing, UACJ Automotive Whitehall Industries, Inc. (Paducah, San Miguel, Flagstaff), UACJ Metal Components North America, Inc., UACJ Metal Components Mexico, S.A. de C.V., UACJ Metal Components Central Mexico, S.A. de C.V., UACJ Metal Components (Thailand) Co., Ltd, P.T. Yan Jin Indonesia
  • Note 2: Measurement scope
    (Japan) UACJ (Nagoya, Fukui, Fukaya), UACJ Extrusion Nagoya Corporation (Nagoya, Anjo), UACJ Extrusion Oyama Corporation, UACJ Extrusion Shiga Corporation, UACJ Extrusion Gunma Corporation, UACJ Foil Corporation (Shiga, Nogi, Isesaki), Nikkin Co., Ltd. (Saitama), UACJ Foundry & Forging Corporation, UACJ Metal Components Corporation (Sendai, Narita, Ena, Shiga, Hiroshima), Nalco Koriyama Co., Ltd., UACJ Aluminum Center Corporation (Utsunomiya Color Aluminum, Fukaya, Shiga, Nara), Izumi Metal Corporation, Kamakura Industry Co., Ltd., UACJ Marketing & Processing
    (Overseas) UACJ (Thailand) Co., Ltd., UACJ Extrusion Czech s.r.o., UACJ Extrusion (Thailand) Co., Ltd., UACJ Foundry & Forging (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., UACJ Foil Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., UACJ Automotive Whitehall Industries, Inc. (Michigan headquarters region, Paducah, San Miguel, Flagstaff), UACJ Metal Components North America, Inc., UACJ Metal Components Mexico, S.A. de C.V., UACJ Metal Components Central Mexico, S.A. de C.V., UACJ Metal Components (Thailand) Co., Ltd, P.T. Yan Jin Indonesia
  • Note 3: Measurement scope
    (Japan) UACJ (Nagoya, Fukui, Fukaya), UACJ Extrusion Nagoya Corporation (Nagoya, Anjo), UACJ Extrusion Oyama Corporation, UACJ Extrusion Shiga Corporation, UACJ Extrusion Gunma Corporation, UACJ Foil Corporation (Shiga, Nogi, Isesaki), UACJ Foundry & Forging Corporation, UACJ Aluminum Center Corporation (Utsunomiya Color Aluminum)
    (Overseas) UACJ (Thailand) Co., Ltd., UACJ Extrusion Czech s.r.o., UACJ Extrusion (Thailand) Co., Ltd., UACJ Foundry & Forging (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., UACJ Foil Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., UACJ Automotive Whitehall Industries, Inc. (Michigan headquarters region, Paducah, San Miguel, Flagstaff)
  • Note 4:
    UACJ Nikko Works and UACJ Extrusion (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Ayuttaya Works, due to closure, and UACJ Extrusion (Tianjin) Corporation, due to a partial stock transfer under which the company is no longer a consolidated subsidiary, were excluded from the measurement scope in FY2021.

UACJ CO2 Emissions (Parent only)

  Fiscal 2020 Fiscal 2021 Fiscal 2022
Fuel Scope 1
CO2 emissions (t-CO2/yr.)
335,427 363,000 338,000
Electricity Scope 2
CO2 emissions (t-CO2/yr.) Location-based
234,125 243,000 234,000
Scope 1+2
CO2 emissions (t-CO2/yr.)
569,552 606,000 571,000
CO2 emissions per product ton
(t-CO2/product ton)
1.061 1,041 0.969
  • * Energy usage and CO2 emissions per unit production are based on the volume of products shipped.
  • * The CO2 emissions factor for electricity is location-based.

Fiscal 2022 UACJ Group CO2 Emissions (Scope 3 Japan + overseas)

Scope 3 (supply chain) CO2 emissions were calculated as shown below.

Components CO2 Emissions
(kt-CO2)
Category 1: Purchased goods and services 5,313
Category 2: Capital goods 93
Category 3: Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in scopes 1 and 2 132
Category 4: Upstream transportation and distribution 114
Category 5: Waste generated by business operations 0.4
Category 6: Business trips 1
Category 7: Employee commuting 2
Total 5,655

Categories 8-15 were excluded from the calculation because of their miniscule impact.

Main Initiatives in Production Processes

New Energy Saving Subcommittee

The UACJ Group Energy Saving Subcommittee meets regularly to promote energy-saving activities at business sites. Beginning in FY2022, we created the New Energy Saving Subcommittee with a revised member makeup and meeting schedule with the aim of stepping up our activities to reduce GHG emissions and promote energy conservation.

Examples of Energy-Saving Activities

The main energy-saving activities implemented by the UACJ Group in fiscal 2022 are shown in the table below. In addition to the activities shown below, we are implementing energy-saving measures at all Group business sites, including updating aging air conditioners and boilers, replacing deteriorating insulation materials, applying heat shielding paint to reduce heat loss, and fixing steam and air leakage points.

Examples of CO2 Emissions Reductions (New for fiscal 2022)

Business Location Theme CO2Emissions Reduction Impact (t-CO2/yr.)
Fukui Works Melting furnace regeneration burner (including LNG combustion) 3,000
UACJ Foil Corporation (Shiga) Conversion from LPG to city gas 700
Nagoya Works Partial renewal of heating furnace 500
Multiple business sites Installation of LED lighting 400
Multiple business sites Update of air conditioning equipment 200

Switching to LNG as a Heat Source for Production Processes

Using LNG as a heat source produces approximately 30% less CO2 emissions compared to LNG and heavy oil with the same calorific value.

Based on calorific value, LNG (including city gas) was used for roughly 87% of the fuel needs of our three plants at the end of fiscal 2022.

Installing Solar Power Generation Equipment

UACJ (Thailand) installed a solar power generation system at the Rayong Works and started generating electricity in September 2022. The system is one of the world's largest rooftop installations, with approximately 40,000 panels generating approximately 25 GWh/year of electricity per year. The system is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 14,000 tons annually. The system’s power output has been roughly in line with the estimates, and the company is considering adding panels to generate an additional 2 megawatts of power.

For details, click here

Main Initiatives in Logistics

UACJ is taking steps to reduce the energy it uses in its logistics processes. As a “specified consignor”*1 as defined by the Energy Efficiency Act *2, UACJ is promoting activities with the aim of improving transport energy efficiency per ton-kilometer by an average of 1% annually over five years.

Transportation energy per unit of sales volume declined by 2.5% from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022, which we believe is the result of improvement efforts including increasing the loading rate and the use of ship transport.

At the same time, we are continuing to reduce CO2 emissions through the improved transport efficiency gained by teaming with other companies in the industry since 2001 in joint logistics operations for some aluminum extrusion products.

  • *1 A specified consignor is a shipper that annually transports more than 30 million ton-kilometers of their own cargo
  • *2 Energy Efficiency Act: Also known as the Act on the Rational Use of Energy, the act calls for consignor companies, which place orders with freight transport firms, and others to form specific plans to conserve energy and to reduce energy consumption.

Amount of Energy Used for Shipping, per Unit of Sales

Amount of Energy Used for Shipping, per Unit of Sales

  • * Periodic report submitted values

Main Initiatives in Offices

Energy-Saving Activities in Offices

UACJ takes active steps to reduce energy consumption in its offices, including by controlling temperatures maintained by air conditioner systems following the Cool Biz and Super Cool Biz campaigns as strictly enforcing turning off of lights and electronic equipment when not in use.

The head office is promoting greater use of telecommuting and in January 2022 replaced individual desks with a free address system in its offices. In July, UACJ took the additional step of consolidating the head office functions of its affiliated companies in Otemachi, Tokyo as part of its efforts to further improve office space efficiency and to reduce energy consumption for air conditioning, lighting, and electronic equipment.

Office-Based Environmental Protection Measures

For office supplies, items complying with the Law Concerning the Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other Entities and eco-mark items are purchased to the extent possible.