Using Resources Efficiently

We reduce the amount of waste generated in our operations and promote reuse and recycling

Recycling

In the Hitachi Group, we believe in using the earth’s natural resources wisely and well. For this reason, we are cutting our volume of waste^*1 and are promoting recycling.
Cutting waste is the most effective way to minimize our environmental burden. Accordingly, our fiscal 2010 goal is to reduce waste, including reusable resources with residual value, by 25 percent from the fiscal 2000 level. We now also use some surplus waste materials during manufacturing. Employing the 3R load concept, we evaluate the effectiveness of every waste treatment and disposal option, including reusing, recycling, heat recovery, incineration, and final disposal.
The 3R load concept applies the life cycle assessment approach to handling waste. This allows us to quantify the environmental load of every recycling and disposal option, taking into account both the energy used to treat or dispose of a material and the energy used to extract it from natural resources. Using this approach to calculating the 3R load, we intend to increase our resource recycling rate^*2 by 10 percent over the 2005 level by fiscal 2010.

*1

Waste
Includes valuable resources.

*2

Resource recycling rate
Calculated as (base year 3R load minus subject year 3R load) divided by base year 3R load.

3R Load Concept

• Zero emission sites

Promoting Resource Conservation

To manage industrial waste, we divide facilities into two groups: one group’s goal is to cut the total volume of waste and the other group’s goal is to reduce waste per unit production. In fiscal 2008, both groups achieved a 25 percent reduction from the corresponding fiscal 2000 levels. As a result, the total volume of waste generated in the Hitachi Group as a whole in fiscal 2008 was down 16 percent compared with fiscal 2000. Moreover, due to efforts to promote recycling and reduce final disposal, 149 facilities achieved zero emission^*1 status (up 13 from the previous year). For recycling, we shifted to using recycling methods with a lower environmental burden for resource conservation (shifting from thermal recovery to material recycling, and to reuse). In this way, we have increased our resource recycling rate to 11 percent above 2005 levels.

*1

zero emission
A zero emission facility is one with a final disposal rate of no more than 1 percent and less than 5 tonnes of final waste in any given year (Hitachi definition).

Waste Treatment and Disposal Volumes

Breakdown of Recycling Methods

Trends in Waste Generation

Trend in the Resource Recycling Rate (Japan)

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Water Resource Conservation

Recycling water is an important priority worldwide, so we set the fiscal 2010 goal of reducing water use at facilities outside Japan by 10 percent from fiscal 2005 levels. To meet this target, we are focusing on reusing purified water during manufacturing and “cascading water use”^*1 (water used for cooling is reused in toilets, for example).

*1

Cascading water use
System to maximize water reuse by matching the water quality to the purpose.

Reducing Water Use

By promoting water conservation, the Hitachi Group kept total water use in fiscal 2008 to 71.48 million m3, 3 percent below the 2005 level. At electric appliance production plants in China and the rest of Asia, we effectively used water by reusing cooling water from manufacturing as coolant in other processes, and then we used it a third time for quality inspection. Due to these efforts, we were able to limit total water use in plants outside of Japan to 12.22 million m3, 8 percent below the 2005 level.

Trends in Water Use

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