Environmental Management

Why SUMCO Addresses Environmental Issues

From energy-saving initiatives to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing waste, lowering the environmental load by the business activities of companies is a pressing task to ensure that the global environment is maintained and protected.
To ensure that the irreplaceable global environment is passed on to future generations, the SUMCO Group has established an environmental management system. We have obtained ISO14001 certification for all of our plants, and pursue initiatives aimed at protecting the environment.

SUMCO Environmental Policies

1. Basic Environmental Philosophy

As a manufacturer of high-quality silicon wafers for semiconductors and of quartz crucibles, SUMCO has established the following action guidelines and is committed to self-initiated and sustained environmental conservation activities to pass on the Earth's irreplaceable environment to future generations.

2. Environmental Action Guidelines

  1. Through our business activities, we shall pursue activities with an emphasis on the following points.
    1. (1) We shall act to conserve electricity and other energies consumed by our business activities, thereby curbing emissions of greenhouse gases.
    2. (2) We shall strive to reduce waste and increase recycling and reuse rates.
    3. (3) We shall strive to reduce and recycle water used in our business activities.
    4. (4) We shall strive to reduce chemical substances used in our business activities.
    5. (5) We shall thoroughly manage the harmful chemical substances and waste, thereby reducing the risks to the environment.
  2. We shall abide by environment-related laws and regulations, bylaws, and other agreed requirements.
  3. We shall strive to prevent environmental pollution in our entire business activities and undertake efforts to protect the global environment and coexist in harmony with local communities.
  4. We shall promote green procurement with our suppliers, thereby reducing environmental load.
  5. We shall define environmental objectives, and by periodically reviewing these objectives, shall promote continuous improvement of our environmental management system.
  6. We shall endeavor to consider and conserve biodiversity.

May 1, 2021

Environmental Management Structure

The SUMCO Group has established the Environmental Management Structure in which the Environmental Management Officer, a member of the board of directors, appoints the Company-wide Environmental Manager and the Environmental Managers at site, and defines their roles, responsibilities and authorities. Thoroughness of instructions and information sharing are ensured at meetings of the Company-wide Environmental Management Committee and the Environmental Management Committee at each site, both of which are convened periodically. SUMCO's Environmental Management Officer holds chief responsibility for issues related to climate change and has chief authority regarding those issues. The Environmental Management Officer convenes meetings of the Environmental Management Committee and monitors SUMCO's efforts to address climate change.

Environmental Management Structure

Environmental Management Structure

Tackling climate change (Goals for Carbon Neutral)

Tackling climate change is one of the goals in SDGs, and delinking of economic growth and environmental degradation is strongly required.
The SUMCO Group, which supports the growing semiconductor industry, set goals for carbon neutral covering Scope 1+2 in September 2021 toward the realization of a sustainable society.
In addition, with the aim of obtaining SBT certification in February 2024, we have changed the mid-term goal that complies with the SBT 2.0℃ scenario to comply with the 1.5℃ scenario.The SUMCO Group continues to consider expanding the scope of targets (formulation of Scope 3 emission reduction targets and inclusion of overseas sites).

Target Year 2030 (Mid-term Goal) 2050 (Long-term Goal)
Goals 29% reduction from 2022
(4.2% reduction per year)
[in conformity to 1.5℃ scenario of SBT (※1)] 		100% reduction (Carbon Neutral)
[in conformity to the declaration aiming carbon neutral by 2050 by the Government of Japan]
Initiatives Continuous energy-conservation activities
Further introduction of more renewable energy (such as Solar power generation, etc.)
Procurement of non-fossil electricity (such as J-Credit and Non-Fossil Certificates), etc.
  • (※1)Science Based Targets
  •  Reduction targets of greenhouse gas emissions set by companies that comply with the standards of the Paris Agreement.

Environmental Objectives

The SUMCO Group (Japan) sets environmental objectives for each of its operating bases based on its Environmental Policies and the results of environmental load assessments that are conducted periodically. We implement initiatives at each site to reduce environmental load (reducing CO2 emissions, chemical substances used, industrial waste generated, and water used) in accordance with these objectives. The accomplishments are reported and reviewed semiannually in the Environmental Management Committee and the environmental objectives are revised as needed.

2023-2026 Environmental Objectives and 2023 Results

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BM 2023 2024 2025 2026
Objectives Results Objectives Objectives Objectives
Reduction of CO2 emissions
Scope1+2		 Previous year's results 0.7% 1.0% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9%
Reduction of chemical substance use 2.1% 2.8% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5%
Reduction of industrial waste
(reduction of hazardous waste*1 released)		 4.4%
(0.09%)		 6.9%
(0.12%)		 6.4%
(0.2%)		 6.4%
(0.2%)		 6.4%
(0.2%)
Reduction of water consumption 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
  • ·Performance is evaluated every six months, and environmental objectives for the next fiscal year and beyond are set after scrutinizing items for horizontal development at each business site.
  • *1Hazardous waste is defined as "specially controlled industrial waste" stipulated by the Japanese Waste Management Law.
Reduction Objectives for Each Base of Operations (9 Manufacturing Bases in Japan)

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Site BM 2023
Reduction of CO2 emissions Reduction of chemical substance use Reduction of industrial waste Reduction of water consumption
Objectives Results Objectives Results Objectives Results Objectives Results
Kyushu Factory (Nagahama, Imari) Previous year's results 1.0% 1.5% 0.4% 0.5% 4.9% 7.2% 0.2% 0.2%
Kyushu Factory (Kubara, Imari) 0.7% 1.1% 6.5% 8.9% 8.9% 14.3% 0.04% 0.04%
Kyushu Factory (Saga) 0.2% 0.2% 5.7% 7.7% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
Yonezawa Plant 0.3% 0.5% 0.7% 0.8% 0.003% 0.4% 0.001% 0.1%
Chitose Plant 0.3% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1% 16.4% 34.9% 0.1% 0.1%
JSQ Division 0.3% 0.8% 0.04% 0.04% 2.3% 3.0% 0.6% 1.8%
SUMCO Technology Corp. Noda Plant 0.7% 0.7% 0.05% 0.05% 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% 1.5%
SUMCO TECHXIV Corp. Nagasaki Plant 1.0% 1.6% 0.06% 0.05% 0.2% 0.1% 2.1% 1.1%
SUMCO TECHXIV Corp. Miyazaki Plant 0.3% 0.4% 0.03% 0.03% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.2%
Total 0.7% 1.0% 2.1% 2.8% 4.4% 6.9% 0.6% 0.4%
  • As our efforts for reduction in CO2 emissions, we have promoted reducing electricity usage by upgrading coolers, among other initiatives.
  • As our efforts for reduction in use of chemical substances, we have promoted changing the chemicals used for wastewater treatment, among other initiatives.
  • As our efforts for reduction in industrial waste discharge, we have promoted conversion waste oil (waste slurry liquid) into valuable resources, among other initiatives.
  • To reduce the amount of water used, we are working to improve the recovery rate of pure water used on-site and optimize the amount of blow water.

Environmental Risk Management

SUMCO Group (Japan) identifies environmental risks in the Basic Rules on Risk Management, including risk related to climate. Identified risks are incorporated into an initiative plan for environmental risks such as environmental pollution and extreme weather due to global warmings under the BSC and environmental management system. Then, the achievements are reported to the Environmental Management Officer as well as BSC and reviewed by top management.

Environmental Education

Education and Training Targeted at Suppliers to Increase Understanding of the Environmental Policies and Prevent Environmental Accidents

The SUMCO Group(Japan) provides environmental education to supplier of chemicals and other products and to industrial waste treatment firms covering SUMCO's Environmental Policies, prevention of environmental accidents and compliance with laws and ordinances.
In 2023, we conducted online group training and document distribution training to prevent infection due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As for the results of the training, we receive training records from each company to confirm the level of understanding.

Contents of Education

  1. Requests for vehicle inspections to prevent fuel, oil and other substances from leaking
  2. The importance of SUMCO personnel being present at the time of delivery or collection, and request that their instructions be followed
  3. Request for inspection of industrial waste collection vehicles, particularly to prevent leakage or dripping of sludge, liquid waste, etc.
  4. Introduction to actual environmental accidents that occurred at the Company in the past

Environmental Accounting

In accordance with Ministry of the Environment's Environmental Accounting Guidelines 2005, the SUMCO Group(Japan) calculates the results of our group (Japan) from January 2023 to December 2023.

Environmental Costs

(million yen per year)
Investments 1,093
Expenses*1 4,727
  • *1Internal labor cost, depreciation expenses and energy costs (electric power, fuel, water, etc.) related to operation are not included.

Environmental Conservation Benefits, Economic Effect

Category (Unit) Environmental Conservation Benefits
(2022-2023)*2		 Economic Effect
(million yen)*3
Electricity consumption (GWh) (55) 236
Fuel consumption (crude oil equivalent kL) (▲657)
Water consumption (Mm3) (▲1.2)
Chemical substance consumption (t) (▲104)
Industrial waste emissions (t) (382)
  • *2The negative value indicates that the increase in environmental impacts exceeded reductions due to increases of production volume and trial productions that does not contribute to sales.
  • *3Calculated by our original estimating method.

Environmental Audits

Through the SUMCO Group(domestic / overseas) , internal environmental audits are conducted by internal auditors, while environmental management system audits are implemented by an outside review organization.

Internal Environmental Audit

Internal environmental audits are annually conducted by internal auditors for all organizations in the SUMCO Group(domestic / overseas) subject to the Company's environmental management system. The results are reported to the Environmental Management Officer and reflected in the following year's activities to enable continuous improvement of the environmental management system.

Environmental Management System Audit

The SUMCO Group(domestic / overseas) is subject to regular audits conducted every year and a renewal audit conducted every three years by an external independent auditor. Any nonconformity was not found in the audit conducted in 2023.

Compliance with Environmental Legislation

The SUMCO Group(domestic / overseas) identifies the requirements of laws, regulations and agreements and verifies compliance. None of the items which is incompliance with laws and regulations were found in 2023.
We also ensure compliance with overseas chemical substance regulations, namely the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive and Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH).

State of Compliance with Environmental Laws and Regulations SUMCO Group (Japan)

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5 years prior
(2019)		 4 years prior
(2020)		 3 years prior
(2021)		 2 years prior
(2022)		 Last year
(2023)
Violations 0 0 0 0 0
Fines (yen) 0 0 0 0 0

Progress of Soil and Groundwater Contamination Countermeasures

Accumulated Amount of Contaminated Substances Recovered Annually from Groundwater at the Noda Plant
GraphGraph

SUMCO Group (Japan) conducts soil and groundwater contamination surveys at all facility sites.
In a voluntary survey implemented at the Noda site in 2005, it was found that amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and fluorine exceeded the soil and groundwater environmental standard values. We have been pursuing countermeasures in consultation with relevant parties. At present, we are working to prevent the spread of and recover contaminated substances by using a pumping well set up near the boundary of the plant grounds.

In fiscal year 2023, there were no new incidents related to industrial water/wastewater across SUMCO Group (Japan) .

ISO 14001 Management System Certificate

ISO 14001 Management System Certificate [4.8MB/5Pages]