Resource Circularity | Environment | Sustainability

Resource Circularity

Efforts to Reduce Environmental Impact

As part of its environmental policy to reduce the environmental impact of its business activities, JDI is promoting various initiatives such as the reduction of industrial chemicals, the reduction of sludge, the reduction of water consumption, and the reduction of VOC emissions at each manufacturing site.

Example of Efforts to Reduce Environmental Impact

Mobara Fab：Reduction of Chemicals and Waste Through Optimal Control of Chemicals

Since the start of its operations, the Mobara Fab, in cooperation with Kurita Water Industries, has been trying to reduce the pollution level of the wastewater discharged outside the plant to below the legal standard by using chemicals to detoxify the wastewater generated in the production process. In the course of this treatment, a lot of industrial waste is generated as reaction products due to the large amount of chemicals used. This time, it was planned to optimize and reduce the amount of additive for industrial chemicals used for detoxification and stabilization treatment of wastewater by constantly monitoring the conventional metered injection method with S.sensing CS (automatic chemical injection reduction system). This is expected to reduce 55% of the applicable chemicals, about 10% of the total applicable industrial chemicals in the factory, 55% of the total sludge and waste derived from applicable industrial chemicals, and 2% of the total sludge generated in the factory, compared with the conventional ratios, contributing to the reduction of chemicals and waste, as well as the reduction of chemical costs and sludge disposal costs. In the future, we plan to apply the same automatic chemical injection reduction system to other dewatering systems to further reduce environmental impact.

Flow Diagram for Automatic Chemical Injection Reduction System for Detoxification of Wastewater

Wastewater treatment facility	Reduction amount (July 2022 to March 2023)
Flocculant (polyiron)	129.9t
pH Adjuster (Caustic Soda)	58.7t
General Sludge	101.2t

Tottori Fab：Efforts to Reduce Water Consumption

The Tottori Fab uses ultrapure water, which is industrial river water that has been treated with RO membranes, ion-exchange resins, and high performance filters to remove impurities, for the high-precision cleaning of glass substrates. Some of the wastewater used for cleaning can be recycled, while the rest of it cannot be recycled; the latter is discharged into the sewage system after being controlled according to Tottori City’s standards.
This time, the amount of ultrapure water used for cleaning was reduced within the limit satisfying the conditions of not causing the deterioration of product quality through repeated experiments and verifications. As a result, it also became possible to achieve not only the reduction of water resource usage, but also the secondary reduction of costs for filter materials and energy used in the refining process. In the future, the same approach will be adopted to other facilities to further reduce environmental impact.

Operation Flow and VOC Exhaust Passages

PCB Waste Treatment

Companies that store polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are required to report the storage status and dispose of the waste by the prescribed date in accordance with the Law on Special Measures to Promote the Proper Treatment of PCB Waste. The Mobara Fab has been disposing of PCB waste in stages according to its classification, and has completed the disposal of all PCB waste after disposing of “stabilizers and other contaminated materials” in November 2022.

Disposal Record of PCB Waste

Categories	Time of Disposal	Outsourced Waste Disposers	Contents
Low-concentration PCB wastes (transformer, capacitor, etc.)	February-March 2016	Certified Business Operator for Detoxification Treatment	Transformer, capacitor, contaminated oil, rag, etc.
High-concentration PCB wastes (transformer, capacitor, etc.)	December 2016	JESCO^＊ Tokyo PCB Waste Treatment Facility	Capacitor, storage container
High-concentration PCB wastes (stabilizer, contaminant, etc.)	November 2022	JESCO Hokkaido PCB Waste Treatment Facility	Stabilizer, capacitor for stabilizer, rag, etc.

^＊JESCO: Japan Environmental Storage & Safety Corporation