The Group has established a Central Environmental Committee(with regular meetings twice a year and extraordinary meetings as necessary), chaired by an officer appointed by the Chief Environmental Officer (President), to ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations and to promote environmental protection. Under the supervision of the CSR and Sustainability Committee (chaired by an external director), which is an advisory body to the Board of Directors, the Central Environmental Committee checks the progress of Eco Vision 2030 and the Group's environment-related issues in order to ensure continuous improvement.
In FY2023, the Central Environmental Committee held two meetings to report on and discuss the progress of Eco Vision 2030, non-compliance issues from internal audits, addressing soil and groundwater contamination risks, and the progress and future plans of the roadmap for addressing climate change. In order to achieve Eco Vision 2030, Each internal company is expected to manage its own targets on items relevant to business activities. Meanwhile, we take the initiatives to such activities as compliance of regulations, raising environmental awareness, and communication with local society mainly on the regional basis in accordance with action plans. In addition, various working groups are set up as the cross-functional team across the internal company to address specialized issues such as carbon neutrality, energy conservation and chemical substances.
Environmental Activity Promotion OrganizationWe received ISO 14001 multi-site certification for Niterra and 10 group companies (As of the end of FY2023) in Japan. As for other domestic and overseas Group companies, one domestic and 16 overseas Group companies (as at the end of FY2023) have obtained ISO 14001 certification through individual company certification.
The proportion of ISO 14001 certification in the Group is 96% as a percentage of employees.
Certification covering multiple units (Scope of applicability)
| Country | Name of factories and companies | |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | Niterra Co., Ltd. | Headquarter |
| Nagoya Plant | ||
| Komaki Plant | ||
| Satsuma Plant | ||
| Ise Plant | ||
| Inuyama Logistics Center | ||
| SparkTec WKS CO., LTD. | Head Office Plant | |
| Nagoya Plant | ||
| Satsuma Plant | ||
| Satsuma Electrode Plant | ||
| Nino Headquarters Plant | ||
| Tono Plant | ||
| Okusa Plant | ||
| NICHIWA KIKI CO., LTD. | ||
| NTK CERAMIC CO., LTD. | Komaki Plant | |
| Iijima Plant | ||
| Kani Plant | ||
| CERAMIC SENSOR CO., LTD. | Komaki Plant | |
| Ise Branch room | ||
| Nakatsugawa Plant | ||
| NITTOKU ALPHA SERVICE CO., LTD. | Head Office | |
| Komaki Office | ||
| NANSEI CERAMIC CO., LTD. | Komaki Plant | |
| Ise Plant | ||
| NTK CERATEC CO., LTD. | Komaki Plant | |
| MORIMURA SOFC TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. | Komaki Plant | |
| Takenami Plant | ||
| NTK Medical CO., LTD. | ||
Certification obtained individually
| Country | Name of factories and companies | |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | NTK CERATEC CO., LTD. | Sendai Plant, Sendai West Plant |
| U.S.A. | Niterra North America, Inc. | WV Plant |
| Wells Vehicle Electronics,L.P | ||
| Mexico | Niterra Mexico, S. A. de C. V. | |
| Brazil | Niterra do Brasil Ltda | |
| France | Niterra France SAS | |
| U.K. | Niterra UK Ltd. | |
| Germany | Niterra EMEA GmbH | |
| Thailand | Siam Niterra Co., Ltd. | |
| Niterra (Thailand) Co., Ltd. | ||
| Niterra ASIA Co., Ltd. | ||
| Malaysia | Niterra Malaysia Berhad | |
| China | Niterra(Shanghai)Co., Ltd. | |
| Niterra(Changshu)Co., Ltd. | ||
| Indonesia | PT Niterra Mobility Indonesia | |
| India | Niterra India Private Limited | |
| South Africa | Niterra South Africa (Pty) Ltd. | |
Inherent in business activities are various risks including environmental incidents and pollution. Niterra Group identifies these risks and endeavors to reduce and/or prevent them.
The Group conducts necessary surveys in accordance with the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law. In addition, as part of its environmental management, the Group has been conducting voluntary surveys of groundwater contamination at its plant site boundaries on a regular basis since FY2022. In the event that hazardous substances exceeding the standards of the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law are detected, we promptly report the matter to the administrative authorities and implement appropriate measures in accordance with their guidance.
Information is also disclosed on the news site of our website.
PCB waste stored at our Nagoya Plant and Komaki Plant were disposed of in 2018, but we conducted the survey again after receiving government information of cases of high-concentration PCB waste found in 2021. As a result, new PCB waste was discovered and disposed of last fiscal year.
PCB waste is often rediscovered after a simultaneous survey, the Group will continue to conduct surveys in the future.
In FY2022, we disposed of the PCB waste stored at the Ceramic Sensor Nakatsugawa Plant of our group company.
We hold regular drills for emergency situations to prepare for unforeseen accidents, etc. Each department identifies potential environmental accidents to prevent associated adverse environmental impacts.
Training for a resin drain leakTo ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations as well as agreements with local municipalities, we conduct environmental measurements based on strict voluntary standards.
Air, water, noise, and vibration measurements are conducted on a regular basis to prevent legal violations and complaints.
In FY2023, there were no violations of laws and regulations, one accident and one complaint. We promptly took action to address the violations and complaints to prevent recurrence.
| Company | Situation | Countermeasures | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complaint | NTK CERAMIC CO., LTD. | At the Iijima Plant, we received a noise complaint. | The exhaust motor bearing was defective and was replaced and repaired. In addition, a soundproofing sheet was installed to prevent the exhaust noise from diffusing. |
Environmental education is conducted to deepen employees’ understanding of environmental issues and raise their environmental awareness.
In addition to rank-specific education, we hold specialized education such as “Environmental management system”, “Calculation methods for substances with an environmental burden”, and “Environmental laws and regulations (for facilities). From FY2022, we are in the process of switching to a video viewing format for the purpose of efficient education tailored to the needs of our participants.
In order to make Eco Vision 2030 known to employees, we have launched an Eco Vision site on the intranet, and posted the background of setting Eco Vision 2030, the results obtained by achieving the Eco Vision goals, and requests to employees. We also regularly send out activity topics to our employees.
Environmental education（SparkTec WKS CO., LTD. Satsuma Plant）We offer our suppliers environmental education and support for establishing environmental management systems to acquire third-party certification.
| Topic | No. of Companies Attending (total sum) |
|---|---|
| ISO14001 | 6 |
| Eco-Action 21 | 37 |