UACJ Assets

Environmental
Initiatives

Contributing to the Realization of a Sustainable Society by Pursuing Manufacturing with Reduced Environmental Impact

Environmental Management

Basic concept

The UACJ Group considers environmental conservation and realization of a recycling-oriented society one of the most important management issues. In addition to abiding by environmental laws and regulations and corporate statutes, we are working to reduce the environmental impact of all business activities.

To promote environmental management throughout the Group, we establish UACJ basic environmental policies based on the UACJ corporate philosophy and guidelines. Based on this, the UACJ Group Environmental Policies are formulated and annual targets are set for each issue, such as “Elimination of environmental accidents,” “Measures to fight global warming,” “Reduction of industrial waste” and “Control and reduction of chemical substance usage.” Under these policies, we carefully consider the environment in all stages of the product lifecycle, from development and manufacturing to sales, use and recycling, as well as strive to reduce environmental impact in our business activities.

Environmental management system

The UACJ Group has established a Group-wide Environmental Committee, chaired by the Chief Environmental Officer, to promote environmental activities and raise environmental awareness among employees. Meetings are held once a year to check the implementation status of environmental activities and discuss policies and goals. The Safety & Environment Department was established as well as an organ to ensure the execution of policies and goals.

Additionally, environmental management systems are in the process of being implemented at all Group sites, and nearly all production sites have acquired ISO 14001 certification. Some of the smaller facilities have also acquired Eco Action 21 certification in accordance with guidelines released by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.

In addition, as a result of the ISO 14001:2015 issue, business sites that have already been certified are now working towards transition, and all sites will complete it by the deadline, September 14, 2018.

Preventing Global Warming

As a means of contributing to the prevention of global warming, the UACJ Group has introduced initiatives to reduce the use of energy throughout all business activities, including everything from manufacturing and distribution to the use of electricity in offices.

During manufacturing processes, in particular, where energy consumption is high, we are promoting initiatives to improve production efficiency at each site and are switching to substitute fuels, among other measures. The Energy-Saving Subcommittee meetings—cross-departmental meetings centered around the Facilities Department--are held periodically. During these meetings, information is shared between sites and the utilization of effective energy-saving examples is promoted throughout the Group.

As a result of these activities, along with efforts for improving production efficiency by reallocating product mixes among plants after business integration, the results of per-unit-production for both CO2 emissions and energy consumption have been improving recently. In fiscal 2015, however, a year-on-year increase was reported as a result of the decrease in domestic production.

Trend in CO2 Emissions

Preventing Environmental Pollution

The UACJ Group has established its own voluntary emissions targets for air, water and soil pollutants, and is committed to reaching and maintaining them. These targets are stricter than those required by laws, regulations and agreements.

Regarding the initiatives for handling chemical substances, all Group companies record the volumes of targeted substances handled, emitted and transferred according to the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR*1) Law. In addition to reporting these values, the Group is working to further reduce the use of targeted substances. In fiscal 2015, while product production volume increased, the overall Group-wide emissions of all targeted substances combined slightly increased by only 3.6% compared to the previous fiscal year.

Regarding the emission of pollutants into the air and water in fiscal 2015, there was one case of wastewater discharge exceeding regulation standards at the Shiga Works (UACJ Metal Components Corporation). When it was found, the cause was identified, measures to resolve the problem were taken immediately, resulting in a minimal outflow with no effect was found in the river. All other reports stated figures within standards.

*1 Act on Confirmation, etc. of Release Amounts of Specific Chemical Substances in the Environment and Promotion of Improvements to the Management Thereof

Trend in PRTR Substance Emissions and Transfer(including manganese, chromium, nickel and lead alloy elements in products)

Reducing Waste

In order to help realize a recycling-oriented society, the UACJ Group is working to reduce industrial waste. Member companies carry out waste sorting and recycling with the ultimate goal of achieving zero emissions.*2 In fiscal 2015, the ratio of waste directly consigned to landfills was 0.22%, continuing to meet the targeted objective at our main business site. We will continue to work to maintain zero emissions in the future as well and support aluminum can recycling activities as a leading company of aluminum products.

*2 Zero emissions is defined as a ratio of less than 1% of total industrial waste being disposed of directly to landfills.

Trend in Industrial Waste Volume

Developing Eco-conscious Products

The UACJ Group is working on the development and improvement of products meeting the needs of customers and society while placing an emphasis on environmental consideration.

In recent years, making the most of the characteristics of aluminum being light yet strong, the development of lighter-weight aluminum products with functions equivalent to conventional products is underway in effort to help reduce energy consumption, such as lighter automobiles that help to reduce energy consumption. Additionally, taking maximum advantage of the highly efficient recyclability of aluminum, we are developing practical can stock that is even easier to recycle.

Other activities include collaborating with customers to develop a variety of eco-conscious aluminum products that will reduce impact on the environment, including highly efficient exchanger tubes capable to contributing to saving energy, car air-conditioner materials compatible with non-Freon refrigerants, and materials for hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.

Note: The aggregate scope for these graphs is as follows: UACJ (Nagoya, Fukui, Fukaya, Nikko), UACJ Color Aluminum, UACJ Extrusion Nagoya (Nagoya, Anjo), UACJ Extrusion Oyama, UACJ Extrusion Gunma, UACJ Extrusion Shiga, UACJ Foundry & Forging, UACJ Foil (Shiga, Nogi, Isezaki), UACJ Copper Tube The figures for fiscal 2012 are the results of combining former Furukawa-Sky Aluminum Corporation and former Sumitomo Light Metal Industries, Ltd. The figures for fiscal 2013 are the results of combining the first half results for the former two companies and the second half results for UACJ.