Reducing Industrial Waste

Principal Initiatives in Fiscal Year 2023

01Global DIC Group

The DIC Group works to fully grasp and effectively manage industrial waste at its production facilities around the world from generation and discharge on-site through to intermediate treatment and final disposal as landfill. The chart on the next page illustrates the management of industrial waste by the global DIC Group in fiscal year 2023. As this shows, the Group breaks down and calculates amounts at all stages of the process.

02DIC Group in Japan

The DIC Group in Japan has long promoted zero emissions initiatives with the aim of reducing the total volume of industrial waste disposed of off-site as landfill by 95% from the fiscal year 2000 level, a target it actually achieved in fiscal year 2010. The Group is currently working to maintain the annual industrial waste it disposes of as landfill at this level (200 tonnes). With efforts to shift toward a circular economy intensifying in recent years, the Group is now also working to reduce waste generated and waste discharged by Group production facilities as well as to curb waste disposed of as landfill and has set a target of 45,000 tonnes for the former.

In fiscal year 2023, the DIC Group in Japan met its target for industrial waste generated by Group production facilities in Japan, which amounted to 39,790 tonnes, a decrease of 4% from fiscal year 2022, thanks to robust initiatives at individual facilities. The Group also outpaced its target for industrial waste disposed of as landfill by Group companies in Japan, which totaled 167 tonnes, down 3% from the previous period, as a result of which it also achieved a decline in industrial waste disposed of as landfill. This is attributable to the decrease in waste generated, resulting in a smaller volume of waste requiring disposal as landfill. Going forward, the Group will continue to reinforce its zero emissions initiatives. Group companies also pressed ahead with efforts to ensure the appropriate disposal of equipment containing PCBs and of unprocessed waste. The disposal of unprocessed waste was essentially completed in the first half of fiscal year 2023.

TOPICS

Processing Discarded Pallets into Materials with Value at the Chiba Plant

DIC continues working to reduce waste to rationalize waste-related costs and lower CO₂ emissions. As a part of this effort, the Company is processing discarded pallets into materials with value at its Chiba Plant with the aim of shrinking the volume of industrial waste disposed of by the facility. In fiscal year 2022, the plant processed approximately 130 tonnes of plastic and wooden pallets, rather than simply disposing of them as waste, with the former recycled into raw materials and the latter sold on a secondhand basis to be reused. Because processing items that would otherwise be disposed of into materials with value shrinks the overall amount of waste, it also helps rationalize related costs and curb CO₂ emissions.

As of fiscal year 2023, more than 70% of DIC’s discarded pallets are processed into materials with value. The Chiba Plant expects to have processed more then 140 tonnes of pallets during the period. With increasing effectiveness of processing at the Chiba Plant, the Company has begun to promote the horizontal deployment of this approach and is currently also processing waste flexible containers in a bid to further reduce waste.

03Initiatives in Japan Related to Waste Plastics

04Deployment of the Electronic Manifest System in Japan

Japan’s e-Manifest system helps manage the movement of industrial waste by facilitating the electronic transmission of manifest information and tracking the flow of waste from generation through transport, intermediate treatment and disposal. In fiscal year 2016, the DIC Group in Japan introduced GENESYS ECO, a comprehensive industrial waste management system, for use with the e-Manifest system. Deployment of this system was completed at all domestic Group production sites in fiscal year 2019, an achievement that has helped to both save labor and ensure legal compliance,

05DIC Group in Other Countries and Territories

In addition to ensuring that disposal of industrial waste complies with national and regional legal and regulatory requirements, the DIC Group’s production facilities outside Japan work to minimize waste through the voluntary recycling and reuse of materials. At production facilities in the Americas and Europe, Greater China and the Asia– Pacific region, the Group is introducing new waste treatment systems and promoting the horizontal deployment of best practices, including those aimed at improving production processes. In fiscal year 2023, waste generated by DIC production sites in other countries and territories totaled 68,815 tonnes, down 10% from fiscal year 2021. Industrial waste disposed of as landfill at these sites fell 32%, to 11,518 tonnes. Going forward, the Group’s regional headquarters outside Japan will focus on reinforcing compliance with local laws and regulations, as well as curbing the generation of industrial waste and the disposal thereof as landfill.