Harmony with Nature
Environmental Risks
Our environmental management system is used in formulating emergency response procedures in order to minimize pollution risks that go with industrial accidents and natural disasters. Risk maps for each plant have been prepared to address pollution risk due to chemicals. Facilities and workplaces that handle chemical substances have been clearly identified and recorded, along with previous crises.
Chemical Substances—Appropriate Use and Release Control
Alps Electric ensures appropriate use of chemical substances by regulating the use of substances in products and processes through the Alps Environmentally Hazardous Substance Control Standard.
We have ceased using certain solvents and have improved chemical management to reduce VOC(*1) emissions into the atmosphere. As a result of these initiatives, we have achieved our target of a 30% reduction in VOC emissions from the fiscal 2000 level by fiscal 2010, the actual reduction being 86%.
(*1) VOC: Volatile Organic Compounds are organic compounds that easily vaporize into the atmosphere at normal temperatures under normal atmospheric pressure. They are used, for example, in paints and for cleaning parts. It is known that once discharged into the atmosphere, and exposed to sunlight, they undergo a chemical transformation where hazardous substances are generated.
| Substance | Volume Used | Volume Emitted | Volume Transferred | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air | Water | Sewage | Transferred to Subcontractors | |||||||
| '09 | '10 | '09 | '10 | '09 | '10 | '09 | '10 | '09 | '10 | |
| Inorganic cyanide compounds | 2.7 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Nickel | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Nickel compounds | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Silver and its water-soluble compounds | 6.2 | 6.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Lead and its compounds | 2.1 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Xylene | 1.4 | 19.8 | 1.2 | 15.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.3 |
| Toluene | 34.3 | 10.1 | 32.6 | 9.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
| Methylnaphthalene | - | 18.5 | - | 0.1 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 |
| 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene | - | 5.3 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 |
| Ethylbenzene | - | 11.2 | - | 10.5 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.7 |
| Water-soluble salts of peroxodisulfuric acid | - | 2.7 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 | - | 0.0 | - | 2.7 |
* The above data covers domestic production subsidiaries.
* PRTR Law: The Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Law was established in 1999 in Japan to encourage business entities to voluntarily manage chemical substances by quantifying volumes of emissions released into the environment. Business entities are required to submit an emissions report of specified chemical substances, which is used by the central government to publish overall emissions levels.
Countermeasures for Environmental Risk
Verifying response and measures practicality and efficiency
for a hypothetical spillage of heavy oil at our Nagaoka Plant (Niigata Prefecture)
Alps Electric takes steps to abate the risk of environmental damage occurring as a result of unforeseen accidents or disasters.
“Environmental risk maps” have been drawn up for each plant and are updated on a regular basis. These maps specify on plant plans where chemical substances and waste are handled. Areas prone to accidents are indicated along with areas where risk events have occurred in the past. Sharing the information lessens the risk to the environment. Risk is also alleviated through improvements to facilities, including replacement of underground pipelines with aboveground, double-walled pipelines, construction of containment dikes at tanker stops, and installation of spill sensors. To ensure readiness, “emergency response plans” have been formulated and are tested through regular drills.
Efforts implemented since 1999 to clean up groundwater pollution at plants in Japan caused by organochlorine compounds have been completed.
Initiatives at Bases
Dalian Alps Electronics Co., Ltd.
Dalian Alps (China) has installed systems for recycling acetone and isopropyl alcohol (IPA), which are volatile organic solvents used in washing and other processes, leading to a reduction in monthly usage of around five tons. Volume purchased decreased around 52% overall as a result.
Nagaoka Plant
IPA effluent distillation equipment
Nagoka Plant (Niigata Prefecture) has recently switched from using the organic solvent hexane that is used in processing powder material to using isopropyl alcohol (IPA), which is less hazardous and has a higher burning point. The Plant has also begun using distillation equipment to recycle IPA effluent and reusing it in production processes. This initiative has enabled 70% of the 36 kiloliters of IPA used per year to be recycled and reused within the Plant, therefore also reducing IPA purchase volumes.
Manufacturing Dept. 3
Liu Wensheng
We use IPA for preventing discoloration of plated surfaces. In June 2010, we installed a recycling system that would allow us to reduce consumption of IPA as part of ongoing reductions in manufacturing processes.
Introduction of the system, along with improvements made to ensure automatic recycling and automated supply to plating baths, led to a reduction in monthly IPA consumption from 5.5 tons before introduction to 2.3 tons afterward, and a reduction in volume purchased of around 60%. We also managed to lessen the impact on the environment.