Initiatives for Greening of Process

“Greening of Process” means paying attention to the environment in manufacturing activities. Toshiba Group is continuously working to reduce environmental impacts by making factory infrastructure and production processes more efficient from three perspectives: mitigation of climate change, management of chemical substances, and effective use of resources.

In terms of climate change, the CO₂ emission coefficient for electricity in Japan has deteriorated considerably due to the effects of the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and indications are that this is greatly affecting Toshiba Group, where electricity-derived CO₂ emissions account for a majority of total GHG emissions. With the possibility of sharp rises in electricity rates in the future, Toshiba Group is taking active energy- saving measures on a company-wide scale and will thus reduce the growth in CO₂ emissions to the maximum possible extent. In FY2012, the Group plans to reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 30,000 tons by concentrating its efforts on semiconductor plants, which account for nearly half of its total GHG emissions. In terms of effective use of resources, we will continue to make maximum use of our ingenuity in reducing the total volume of waste generated and final waste disposal volumes. It will also proactively promote high-quality recycling and strive to use valuable water resources effectively. As for the management of chemicals, the Group will make efforts to discontinue the use of substances targeted for reduction mainly through the introduction of alternative substances and process improvements.

Initiatives to reduce environmental impacts

Pursuing the world's lowest level of environmental impacts

The impact of human activities on the environment has exceeded the Earth’s capacity to cope, plunging the planet into three crises related to climate change, wasteful use of resources, and endangered ecosystems. Toshiba Group considers it important to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by addressing these crises from the perspective of manufacturing which aims for a low-carbon, sound material-cycle, and symbiotic society.

At all its production sites, Toshiba Group minimizes resource inputs (such as energy, materials and consumables, chemicals, and industrial water), eliminates waste in manufacturing processes, and reduces the amount of industrial waste discharged into the air and waters to the maximum possible extent. In terms of electricity conservation, the Group collects data on energy consumption in real time (visualization), analyzes such data (easy to- understand presentation), and uses the analysis results for corrective actions (motivation). In the future, it will also strive to achieve high-efficiency manufacturing to contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of its business by pushing forward with process innovation for sustainable manufacturing based on the previous process improvements and pursuing the world’s lowest level of environmental impacts.

Concept of Greening of Process

• Switching to renewable energy sources for all purchased electricity (Toshiba Television Central Europe)
• Establishing a new photovoltaic power generation laboratory with the latest energy-saving equipment (Toshiba Corp.'s Fuchu Complex)
• Biodiversity (Initiatives at Production Sites)

Toshiba Group aims to increase business process eco-efficiency to 1.5 times in FY2015.

Toshiba Group, which comprehensively assesses the effects of environmental impacts in its business operations, views business process eco-efficiency as an important indicator of highefficiency manufacturing and is working to reduce environmental impacts in manufacturing processes.

Results of FY2011

In FY2011, the amount of end-of-life products recycled decreased substantially because of sluggish replacement demand due to the termination of the eco-point system, leaving business process eco-efficiency to deteriorate compared to the previous year, at 1.35. But reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through energy conservation efforts and other factors contributed to exceeding the goal of 1.28 times.

Future initiatives

The goal of the Fifth Environmental Action Plan is to increase the business process eco-efficiency to 1.5 times compared to the FY2000 level in FY2015. In the future, in order to achieve this goal, Toshiba Group will work to reduce environmental impacts by setting nine specific targets.

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One of the leading environmental assessment methods in Japan, LIME (Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on Endpoint modeling) was developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, an independent administrative institution.

Environmental impacts resulting from business operations