Enviromental Data

Environmental Activities in FY 2022

In growth fields such as semiconductors and electronic devices, we are actively investing in regions across the world, with a particular focus on China and South Korea, which are positioned as strategically important regions, and we are promoting capital investment. Regarding the material balance, electricity consumption increased in these strategic regions. To save energy, having set a target of a 1% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with the result for the previous year (ULVAC standard), we promoted installation of renewable energy facilities such as solar power generation facilities and vigorous procurement of renewable energy. As a result, GHG emissions decreased by 10% from the base year (2020). As for waste, both the total amount of waste recycled and the amount of landfill increased owing to increased production overseas, and the final landfill disposal rate also increased by 0.2%.
Total water consumption increased following the start of full-scale operation of ULVAC Coating Technology (HEFEI) Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the deposition and coating business that uses large amounts of water. Meanwhile, ULVAC has set a new target for efficient use of water resources. Going forward, we will promote water management with the aim of reducing water-related impact in all regions.
The amount of solar power generated increased as a result of the installation of 370-kW-capacity solar power generation equipment at ULVAC KIKO, Inc. New installations are also planned in China and Taiwan. We will continue to promote environmental management activities throughout the Group.

There are concerns worldwide about water risks, such as heavy rainfall, flooding, and water shortages, due to ongoing climate change.
We assess and confirm the impact of water risks on our business.
We identify sites exposed to water risks by using the WRI Aqueduct, a water risk assessment tool, focusing on the sites with high environmental impact as defined by the Company. We define sites with extremely high or high baseline water stress as water-stressed areas. The sites exposed to water risks are located in parts of China, South Korea, and Thailand, and account for 3% of the ULVAC Group on a consolidated basis. None of them are classified as sites with high environmental impact as defined by the Company.
In FY 2023, we have set a new water consumption reduction target for effective use of water resources. In the future, we will set targets for individual companies and promote specific initiatives in the cleaning and the deposition and coating businesses, which also have high environmental impacts.

Prior to the use of chemical substances in the manufacturing process, we conduct risk assessment, in which the amount of the substance to be used and the protective equipment necessary are confirmed, in an effort to ensure worker safety and minimize the environmental impact. Moreover, in order to ensure compliance with the environmental regulations of various countries concerning products, a cross-organizational team whose members are drawn from quality assurance, procurement, and environmental divisions is playing a central role in establishing a structure for management of chemical substances contained in products, thus ensuring provision of environmentally friendly products. Furthermore, we collect information in order to appropriately respond to environmental laws and regulations, which undergo frequent revisions, and conduct in-house education on chemical substances contained in products for which external lecturers are invited, thus supporting manufacturing in compliance with environmental regulations. This education is not limited to ULVAC's business divisions but also covers our business partners. We are promoting establishment of a management structure covering the entire supply chain.

Promotion of Waste Material Recycling

ULVAC has been switching the waste material processing agencies to those that are capable of recycling, aiming to promote the recycle of waste materials.