Biodiversity

Toshiba participated in the Interactive Fair for Biodiversity in October 2010

In order to prevent biodiversity loss on a global scale, Toshiba Group will establish a system to promote its initiatives and visualize the effects of its business activities on biodiversity.

• Basic Policy
• Products
• Initiatives at Production Sites
• Initiatives for the Supply Chain
• Contributions to Society

Basic Policy

Toshiba Group’s policy on biodiversity

The business activities of Toshiba Group benefit from ecosystem services supported by diverse forms of life and at the same time affect such services. For example, while they receive supply services such as wood resources and water, they affect ecosystems when mining minerals and extracting fuel resources. The final treatment of industrial waste discharged by production sites into the atmosphere and hydrosphere depends on ecosystems’ regulating of services such as degradation and purification. For this reason, conserving biodiversity, which provides the foundation for ecosystem services, is an important issue for environmental management.

In accordance with the Biodiversity Guidelines formulated in September 2009, Toshiba Group is striving to reduce environmental impact caused by the construction of production sites, the procurement of resources in business activities and the discharge of industrial waste, etc. It is also pushing forward with products/services aimed at contributing to conservation of biodiversity. Furthermore, the Group will contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by working with local governments and NPOs to carry out social contribution programs such as the 1.5 Million Tree-Planting Project.

Four pillars of initiatives to conserve biodiversity

Biodiversity Guidelines

Toshiba Group formulated the Biodiversity Guidelines in September 2009. The Group will strive to make its initiatives for preserving biodiversity visible by analyzing its business activities and diverse environmental issues, including biodiversity, in comprehensive, quantitative terms and thus reduce environmental impacts and utilize ecosystem services in a sustainable manner.

Toshiba Group Biodiversity Guidelines

Positioning of biodiversity in LIME

Toshiba Group makes use of the Japanese version of the Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on Endpoint modeling (LIME), developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, to assess the effects of its business operations on biodiversity. The LIME method expresses the effects of resources consumed for business activities and chemical substances discharged from them on human society and the ecosystem as coefficients. In order to assess the effects on biodiversity, damage caused to four affected areas (ecological toxicity, land use, resource consumption, and waste) is quantified to calculate the Expected Increase in Number of Extinct Species (EINES), an indicator of how much extinction risks for the Red List of endangered species increase. This enables quantitative analysis of material input and output associated with business activities as a direct indicator of effects on endangered species.

Assessment of using the LIME method

Map of the relationship between business and biodiversity

Products

Assessment of products’ effects on biodiversity

Toshiba Group assesses its products’ effects on biodiversity using the Japanese version of the Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on Endpoint modeling (LIME), which allows for comprehensive assessments from four perspectives: (1) human health, (2) biodiversity, (3) social assets and (4) primary production. It is also developing products that contribute to conserving biodiversity.

Analysis of LIME assessments

Spectroscopic properties of E-CORE, our LED lamp model designed to reduce UV radiation

Case Study in 2009

Example of LIME assessments: Electric power substations

145kV GIS

Some electric power substations are built in mountainous regions covered with rich green foliage. Toshiba Group uses the LIME method to assess environmental impact reduction effects obtained when reducing the area of installation for substations with old air-insulated switchgears (AIS) and that for substations with 145 kV gas-insulated switchgears (GIS). GIS substations, which require only 1/30 of the installation area for AIS substations, reduce the integrated LIME assessment indicator to 20% of the level of AIS substations because the effects of land use (modification of forests), disposal of concrete for the foundation, and so forth are reduced substantially. In particular, it is found that the effects of GIS substations on biodiversity are reduced to 10% of the level of AIS substations.

Comparison of integrated LIME assessments of substations

Initiatives at Production Sites

Establishing ecosystem networks centered on production sites through regional cooperation

In order to conserve biodiversity at its production sites, Toshiba Group aims to establish ecosystem networks centered on production sites through regional cooperation.

Toshiba Group has confirmed that a wide range of animals and plants, including rare local species, live at its production sites as a result of afforestation, development of biotopes (living places for specific pairings of plants and animals), and other past efforts. However, these ecosystems are not always complete unto themselves within the sites. In particular, to protect animals such as the birds and insects that fly over these sites, it is important to establish networks with external organizations. Therefore, Toshiba Group aims to build regional ecosystem networks in cooperation with residents and NPOs in the municipalities where its production sites are located.

Local ecosystem networks created in collaboration with stakeholders

Toshiba Group aims to minimize the adverse effects of its business activities on biodiversity and shift its biodiversity policy toward initiatives for improvement to realize an ideal state of environmental management in 2015. This means that by 2015, the Group intends to prevent the number of species designated for protection (as agreed upon with local stakeholders) from decreasing and to increase the size of the populations of such species from 2015. As the first step, the Group will select the species to be designated for protection at each of its production sites.

Minimizing adverse effects and shifting toward improvement (conceptual diagram)

Toshiba’s ideal regional ecosystem network (conceptual diagram)

In collaboration with outside experts, Toshiba Group has conducted quick assessments of biodiversity potential in areas surrounding our production sites. These assessments were made to evaluate the environmental potential of wooded areas and river systems located within a 2-km radius of each site in order to examine how our production sites can contribute to the development of local ecosystem networks through land use.

In FY2010, we conducted assessments at 14 sites in Japan and one site in the Philippines. We identified each site’s characteristics and made quantitative assessments of how we could contribute to establishing an ecosystem network in the surrounding areas (the biodiversity potential). In the future, we will choose characteristic sites based on the results of these assessments and select the species to be protected, including indigenous or rare species in surrounding areas. We aim to create ecosystem networks in the future in collaboration with local stakeholders.

Biodiversity potential assessment

• Assessing green zones and water systems located within a two kilometer radius from each site
• Identifying each site’s characteristics and quantitatively assessing their biodiversity potential

Results of quick biodiversity potential assessments at 15 sites

Type	Site name	Location	Assessment of Green zones	Assessment of Water systems
Industrial zone	Toshiba Ome Complex	Tokyo, Japan	4	4
	Toshiba Fukaya Complex	Saitama Prefecture, Japan	2	1
	Toshiba Keihin Product Operations	Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan	0	3
	Toshiba Yokohama Complex	Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan	3	0
	Toshiba Carrier Fuji Plant	Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan	1	3
	Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Himeji Plant	Hyogo Prefecture, Japan	3	4
	Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines)	Republic of the Philippines	2	4
Dense residential	Toshiba Fuchu Complex	Tokyo, Japan	3	4
	Toshiba Solutions Fuchu Engineering Center	Tokyo, Japan	3	4
	Toshiba Komukai Operations	Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan	0	2
Agricultural	Toshiba Mobile Display Ishikawa Works	Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan	4	3
	Toshiba Medical Systems	Tochigi Prefecture, Japan	3	3
	Toshiba TEC Shizuoka Business Center (Ohito)	Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan	4	4
Forest	Toshiba Yokkaichi Operations	Mie Prefecture, Japan	3	6
Central urban	Toshiba Head Office Building	Tokyo, Japan	3	5

*

Shaded sites scored three or more points out of a possible four points for green zones and four or more points out of a possible seven points for water systems.

Candidates species for protection at typical production sites

Wastewater management using the WET method

Toshiba Group uses the Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) method, which employs biological indicators, on a trial basis as a new way of investigating the impact of wastewater from its production sites on the environment. This method, which confirms the impact of chemical substances in wastewater on the environment as the magnitude of the overall impact on living organisms, has already been introduced in Europe and North America. With the cooperation of the National Institute for Environmental Studies, investigators at the Yokohama Complex used four organisms of species −luminescent bacteria, algae, crustaceans (water fleas) and fish (zebra fish) −to conduct short-term chronic toxicity tests referring to U.S. guidelines.

In FY2010, Toshiba Group carried out these tests at five production sites, including the Toshiba Yokohama Complex, which were chosen from among the various industries in which it operates. No substantial impact of wastewater on the ecosystem was observed at any site. In the future, the Group plans to continue periodically investigating the status of wastewater management.

Water flea (left) and zebra fish (right) used to assess wastewater (photos courtesy of the National Institute for Environmental Studies)

Sampling of wastewater

Initiatives for the Supply Chain

One important element of initiatives for conserving biodiversity is to procure raw materials in a way that accounts for the needs of the environment. Toshiba Group aims to establish a system of procurement which employs suppliers who are keen on conserving biodiversity. In the future, in cooperation with its suppliers, the Group will strive to protect biodiversity throughout the supply chain.

Contributions to Society

1.5 Million Tree-Planting Project

Toshiba Group is currently implementing the 1.5 Million Tree-Planting Project. In addition to planting trees, the Group works with local governments and NPOs to prune and thin trees for proper forest management. Through these activities, it contributes to the creation of ecosystems well-suited for the growth of diverse biological species. Furthermore, the Group provides human resource development services for those who love nature, such as tree-planting events for employees, nature observation programs and training for nature observation instructors.

Objectives of the 1.5 Million Tree-Planting Project

Forest thinning with local governments and NGOs

In May 2009, Toshiba Group entered into a comprehensive agreement on cooperation in forest development with Aomori Prefecture. Toshiba is working with Aomori Prefecture to develop a total of about 10.5 ha of forest land in Shichinohe Town and Misawa City and is using the land as a place for the environmental education of employees. It also makes the most of the Forest Neighborhood Association system* promoted by an environmental NPO to have paper manufacturers process wood generated by tree thinning in Misawa City then produce paper from the processed wood and use the paper for copying and printing pamphlets and other materials. In March 2010, some 63 tons of wood were produced from forest thinning. Toshiba Group uses such wood for the printing of its own environmental reports and other materials. Thus the Group will contribute to the realization of a recycling-oriented society by not only helping to thin forests but also effectively using timber from forest thinning.

*

A new tree thinning promotion system implemented by the environmental NPO Office Neighborhood Association, which aims to create a link between forest developers and businesses in order to establish a connection between tree thinning and the use of thinned trees.