At the Yokkaichi Plant, which generates its own power, we installed fuel gas desulfurizers to reduce emissions of sulfur oxides (SOx). We also substantially cut emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by installing burners with low NOx emissions and denitrification equipment. In FY2014 the fuel conversion (from heavy oil to public utility gas) implemented at the Kashima Plant (Kashima Joint Power Generator) resulted in a reduction in both SOx and NOx emissions, an achievement that was maintained in FY2015. JSR will continue to adopt the best emissions reduction technologies and will continue to make improvements.
Every year, based on the Act on Confirmation, etc. of Release Amounts of Specific Chemical Substances in the Environment and Promotion of Improvements to the Management Thereof (PRTR Act*2), JSR aggregates the amount of designated chemical substances released into the environment (atmosphere, water and soil) or transferred by manufacturing or used in the previous year, and notifies the government of Japan of the results. Primarily for substances that are released in significant amounts and have a great impact on the environment, we have implemented a range of measures in a planned manner, including enhancing airtightness of their release source, rendering them harmless by incineration and improving their manufacturing processes. In FY2015, as a result of taking such measures, we reduced emissions of the substances designated by the PRTR Act (262 tons) by 90% from the FY1996 level.
*1 Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR): A system for registering the emission and movement of environmental pollutants
*2 PRTR Act: Law Concerning Reporting, etc. of Releases to the Environment of Specific Chemical Substances and Promoting Improvements in Their Management
(Including Techno Polymer Co., Ltd. KRATON JSR ELASTOMERS K.K. Japan Butyl Co., Ltd. Kashima Plant)
Ordinance designated number | Substance | Amounts handled*4(t) | Atmospheric emissions(t) | Water emissions(t) | Transfers*5(t) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Zinc compounds (water-solble) | 1.638 | 0.000 | 1.638 | 0.000 |
2 | Acrylamide | 95.927 | 0.005 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
4 | Acrylic acid and its water-soluble salts | 1,355.6 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
7 | n-Butyl acrylate | 1,996.5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
9 | Acrylonitrile | 37,600.2 | 9.888 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
13 | Acetonitrile | 79.4 | 0.112 | 0.561 | 2.916 |
20 | 2-Aminoethanol | 3.8 | 0.003 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
30 | n-Alkylbenzensulfonic acid and its salts (limited to those with 10 to 14 alkyl group carbons and their mixtures) |
1,166.8 | 0.006 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
36 | Isoprene | 82,980.7 | 0.568 | 0.000 | 0.762 |
71 | Ferric chloride | 19.4 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
80 | Xylene | 3.5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
83 | Cumene | 16.3 | 0.164 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
86 | Cresol | 5.8 | 0.001 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
150 | 1,4-Dioxane | 1.7 | 0.001 | 0.000 | 1.483 |
186 | Dichloromethane | 29.2 | 1.917 | 0.000 | 10.008 |
190 | Dicyclopentadiene | 13,924.8 | 0.083 | 0.000 | 22.694 |
202 | Divinylbenzene | 36.2 | 0.003 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
203 | Diphenylamine | 2.3 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
207 | 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-cresol | 801.4 | 8.700 | 0.000 | 14.412 |
220 | Water-soluble salts of dimethyldithiocarbamic acid | 51.7 | 0.002 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
230 | N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine | 219.6 | 0.001 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
234 | Bromine | 1,399.2 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
239 | Organotin compounds | 0.5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
240 | Styrene | 110,612.3 | 22.688 | 0.000 | 1.030 |
274 | Tert-dodecanethiol | 873.2 | 0.067 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
276 | 3, 6, 9-triazaundecane-1, 11-diamine (also known as tetraethylenepentamine) | 10.9 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.930 |
297 | 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene | 1.1 | 0.570 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
300 | Toluene | 2,727.9 | 44.939 | 0.170 | 165.458 |
309 | Nickel compounds | 5.8 | 0.000 | 0.017 | 0.134 |
321 | Vanadium compounds | 38.8 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 37.889 |
330 | Bis (1-methyl-1-phenylethyl) peroxide | 21.6 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
337 | 4-Vinyl-1-cyclohexene | 113.8 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 2.391 |
351 | 1, 3-Butadiene | 592,436.7 | 7.740 | 0.000 | 0.909 |
355 | Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate | 35.4 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
366 | Tert-butyl hydroperoxide | 17.4 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
392 | n-Hexane | 1,012.9 | 161.052 | 0.000 | 68.447 |
395 | Water-soluble salts of peroxodisulfuric acid | 1.4 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
405 | Boron compounds | 1.2 | 0.000 | 0.524 | 0.000 |
411 | Formaldehyde | 1.5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
415 | Methacrylic acid | 98.2 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.100 |
417 | 2, 3-Epoxypropyl methacrylate | 7.4 | 0.001 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
420 | Methyl methacrylate | 4,946.0 | 1.938 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
436 | α-Methylstyrene | 10,582.6 | 1.185 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
440 | 1- Methyl-1-phenylethyl hydroperoxide | 90.3 | 0.001 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
448 | Methylenebis (4,1-phenylene)=diisocyanate (MDI) | 1.4 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Total | 865,429.8 | 261.6 | 2.9 | 329.562 | |
243 | Polychlorinated-dibenzo-p-dioxins*6 | − | 0.0847 | 0.0006 | 0.0000 |
*3 PRTR Act gives the unit in kg to two significant figures but this report gives the unit in tons (to the first decimal place)
*4 The handling amount shows the figure after base deduction (1 ton/year per place of business)
*5 The transfer amount is the amount committed to intermediate waste service companies plus the amount discharged into public sewers
*6 Dioxin category unit mg-TEQ
Having set a high voluntary goal of reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 75% from FY2001 levels, JSR made a large-scale investment between FY2007 and FY2010 to install five dried-synthetic rubber waste incinerators in three plants. We also carried out meticulous maintenance and management activities, including enhancing the airtightness of release points, improving the working method by adopting a closed system for chemical sampling and preventing leakage from bulbs. As a result, our VOC emissions in FY2015 were 995 tons (77% reduction as compared to FY2001) and we therefore reached our independent target. As we ramp up our production volume, we will maintain the level of the current voluntary goal (75% reduction from FY2001) without a large-scale investment by ensuring proper operation of dried-synthetic rubber waste incinerators and finely tuned maintenance and management.
Reference: VOC reduction targets
(1) Air Pollution Control Act (enforced in April 2006): To achieve a 30% reduction in the amount of VOCs released into the atmosphere by FY2011 from the FY2001 level with the best mix of laws and regulations, along with operators’ voluntary activities.
(2) Japan Chemical Industry Association: To achieve a 51% reduction in the amount of VOCs released into the atmosphere by FY2011 from the FY2001 level
JSR performs rigorous wastewater management at all of its plants and strives to maintain and improve water quality. JSR is in full compliance with the 7th Total Pollutant Load Control that was put into operation in April 2012. We will continue to strictly monitor water quality and strive to further reduce our impact on water.
Groundwater (Environmental Quality Standards for Groundwater Pollution) and soil (major items regulated under environmental standards) at all three of our plants are periodically inspected. As in previous years, no problems were found in FY2015.
In accordance with the Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards due to Asbestos, JSR has conducted checks at all of its facilities (office, manufacturing, R&D and employee amenity areas), including those of all Group companies, where asbestos containing materials have been sprayed. Subsequently, at locations in plants where asbestos was found, we completed removal and enclosure projects in FY2007. In addition, we are investigating the replacement of asbestos containing gaskets with non-asbestos containing types and are progressively carrying out replacements when the safety of their use in production has been confirmed.
The Air Pollution Control Act and the Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards due to Asbestos were amended on June 1, 2014 to prevent asbestos from spreading in the atmosphere, and accordingly, regulations concerning building demolition work were tightened. In accordance with these amended laws, we will continue to act properly to prevent workers engaged in building demolition from acquiring health problems caused by asbestos exposure.
In order to accommodate requests from the Labour Standards Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to thoroughly inform our employees of various systems, including the issuance of the asbestos-related health care handbook and the provision of special benefits as industrial workers' compensation for bereaved families, we introduced the relevant leaflet released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on our website.
JSR stores and manages PCB waste in an appropriate manner in accordance with the "Act on Special Measures concerning Promotion of Proper Treatment of PCB Wastes" and subsequently carries out detoxication treatment in accordance with the law.
FY2015 | Number of devices | Oil containing PCB (liter) | |
---|---|---|---|
Electrical devices | Devices in storage (not in use) | 49 | 48,496 |
Devices in operation | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 49 | 48,496 | |
Total number of devices treated | 260 | 136,437 | |
Current treatment status (%) | 84.1 | 73.8 |
JSR has been managing devices such as industrial air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers, and has been managing the use of freon gases in accordance with the Freon Emission Reduction Law (the Act on Ensuring the Implementation of Recovery and Destruction of Fluorocarbons concerning Designated Products), which has been in effect since April 2015.
To further encourage environmental protection activities, we created the Environment Merit Award for people who have made an important contribution to environmental protection through any of range activities that include environmental product and technology development, environmental impact reduction, and assisting local communities with environment-related issues. Eleven employees received this award for four areas of excellence in FY2015.
Case | Description | |
---|---|---|
Yokkaichi Plant | Plant Site Perimeter Odor Control Measures | Since the wastewater sludge dewatering equipment building is located on the perimeter of the plant grounds, we anticipate that the sludge odor will exceed the standards set by the Odor Index, which will be introduced in 2015. Thus, we have selected a deodorizer and optimized conditions such as the concentration and amount of use, the location of use, the timing of use, and others, and we have devised an automatic dispensing method. This has led to an improvement in the Odor Index from 21 to 10 or below, which indicates that we have cleared the required level (18 or below). The odor reduction has also greatly improved the workplace environment. |
Yokkaichi Plant | Promoting the Reduction of Generated Waste by Improving Waste Sorting Methods | We planned to reduce CO2 emissions by introducing sludge drying equipment and ceasing the use of 1 incinerator, but as we were unable to process waste oil and general waste, these were processed off-site. Therefore, (1) We improved our sorting methods in order to prevent contamination of waste oil by water and impurities, and (2) improved our sorting methods in order to prevent contamination of paper by waste plastic and miscellaneous trash and we improved our waste paper selection process. These changes have allowed us to effectively sell these items. This resulted in our achieving reductions in environmental impact and reductions in off-site processing fee (from 30 million yen/year to 1.6 million yen/year). |
Yokkaichi Plant | CO2 Emission Reductions due to the Introduction of a Gas Turbine Intake Cooling System | Because air density is lower during the hot summer months, the electricity output of gas turbines decreases. The amount of electricity output loss is compensated for through the use of coal boilers and steam turbines, but the use of coal leads to an increase in CO2 emissions. The installation of cooling systems on gas turbine intake vents has improved the summer output of the gas turbines and allowed us to achieve a reduction in CO2 equivalent of 1,000 tons/year. |
Chiba Plant | Odor Countermeasures when Receiving Resin Raw Materials | Some of the resin raw materials used at the Chiba Plant have an unpleasant odor, which may leave us vulnerable to environmental-related complaints. Up to know we have controlled the amount discharged into the atmosphere and used countermeasures such as dilution diffusion of odors, but these measures have not been effective. Wrapping containers and pipes and the use of new carbon deodorizing filters has allowed us to trap odors. These preventative measures have led to decrease in the odor level to 1/10 of the previous level. |
JSR introduced environmental accounting in FY2000 with the following two objectives
JSR Head Office, Yokkaichi Plant, Chiba Plant, Kashima Plant and Research Laboratories
April 1, 2014 - March 31, 2015
Million yen
YP: Yokkaichi Plant
KP: Kashima Plant
CP: Chiba Plant
Category | Investment*7 | Expense | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2014 | FY2015 | ||
(1) Business area costs | 555 | 396 | 3,891 | 4,787 | |
Breakdown | (1)-1 Pollution prevention costs |
344 | 330 Investments: |
1,356 | 1,963 Expenses: |
(1)-2 Global environmental protection costs |
163 | 44 Investments: |
943 | 1,155 Expenses: |
|
(1)-3 Resource circulation costs |
48 | 22 Investments: |
1,592 | 1,669 Expenses: |
|
(2) Upstream/downstream costs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
(3) Management activity costs | 10 | 17 Investments: |
467 | 490 Expenses: |
|
(4) Research and development costs | 0 | 0 | 1,670 | 1,636 Expenses: |
|
(5) Social activity costs | 0 | 0 | 52 | 48 Expenses: |
|
Total | 565 | 413 | 6,080 | 6,961 |
*7 Refers to the amount of the orders placed
Effect | Index | Unit | FY2014 | FY2015 | Year-on-year improvement*8 | Related information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Environmental effects related to resources used in business activities | Energy use (crude oil equivalent) | kl | 267,500 | 265,400 | −2,100 | For more information |
Use of resources designated under PRTR Act | tons | 932,200 | 865,430 | −66,770 | For more information | |
Water resource use | Thousand cubic meters | 15,100 | 14,900 | −200 | For more information | |
Environmental protection effects related to environmental impact and waste discharged from business activities | CO2 emissions | tons | 645,500 | 658,600 | 13,100 | For more information |
SOx emissions | tons | 5 | 5 | 0 | For more information | |
NOx emissions | tons | 328 | 322 | −6 | For more information | |
PRTR substance emissions | tons | 312 | 262 | −50 | For more information | |
Wastewater | Thousand square meters | 12,511 | 11,974 | −537 | For more information | |
COD emissions | tons | 444 | 445 | 1 | For more information | |
Total nitrogen emissions | tons | 147 | 124 | −23 | For more information | |
Total phosphorus emissions | tons | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | For more information | |
Waste materials from plants | tons | 23,535 | 25,803 | 2,268 | For more information | |
Waste recycled off-site | tons | 22,118 | 24,154 | 2,036 | For more information | |
Reduced volume of waste treated off-site | tons | 1,416 | 1,649 | 2,036 | For more information | |
Waste materials from plants disposed of by landfill | tons | 0 | 0 | 0 | For more information | |
PRTR materials transported | tons | 1,645 | 330 | −1,315 | For more information | |
Other environmental effects | Products transported | million ton-kilometer | 492 | 523 | 31 | For more information |
CO2 emissions during transport | tons | 22,960 | 23,984 | 1,024 | For more information | |
Environmental complaints (odor, noise, vibration) | cases | 0 | 0 | 0 | For more information |
*8 Improvement from the previous years has not been corrected in terms of the production volume
Effect (for one year) | Benefit | ||
---|---|---|---|
FY2014 | FY2015 | ||
Cost reduction | By saving energy | 142 | 202 |
By saving resources | 174 | 285 | |
By treating waste on-site | 288 | 534 | |
Total | 604 | 1,021 |
*9 The economical effects of energy saving and resource saving compared to the previous year
Investments | Expenses | Benefit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2014 | FY2015 | |
JSR | 565 | 412 | 6,080 | 6,961 | 604 | 1,021 |
Total of 14 Group companies | 130 | 557 | 2,242 | 2,315 | 494 | 435 |
Total | 695 | 969 | 8,322 | 9,276 | 1,098 | 1,456 |
JSR makes continuous investments in the environment and safety. Investments made in FY2015 reached 2.3 billion yen. This consisted of investments in plant and facilities aimed at various environmental improvements such as energy-saving equipment, and safety improvements such as full-scale anti-seismic measures. JSR will continue to make ambitious investments to maintain and improve the environmental, safety, and health aspects of operations in accordance with its medium-term capital investment plan.
JSR, led by its Process Development Center, is actively engaged in the development of new technologies to promote environmental protection. The following are recent themes in technological development approached by JSR. We deploy technologies as they are developed.
Dried-synthetic rubber waste incinerator (Kashima Plant)
JSR values the opinions of local residents and considers high transparency of plant operations to be the key to improving the local environment. With this in mind, we have strived to improve the local environment by implementing monitoring and tours of environmental equipment at regular intervals. In FY2007 and 2008, we installed equipment to incinerate dry synthetic rubber dry exhaust (RTO*10) at the Yokkaichi, Kashima, and Chiba plants to prevent foul odors. In FY2009, a ground flare was installed at the Yokkaichi Plant to prevent noise and flashes, and as a result there were no environmental complaints from FY2009 to FY2015. We will continue to strive to maintain our basic policy of improving the local environment.
*10 RTO (Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer): A device that combusts VOCs and breaks them down into water and CO2 to make emissions clear
Ground flare (Yokkaichi Plant)
JSR was recognized for its leadership on the environment and safety with the following awards.
1995 | Chiba Plant | Minister of Labor | Award for Excellence (in the safety category) |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Kashima Plant | Minister of Labor | Award for Effort (in the safety category) |
1999 | Chiba Plant | Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA) | Safety Award |
2002 | Chiba Plant | Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare | Award for Effort (in the health category) |
2003 | Yokkaichi Plant | Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry | Award for Excellent Energy Management Plant (Thermal Sector) |
2006 | Tsukuba Research Laboratories | Director-General, Fire Defense Agency | Fire Defense Award |
2007 | Yokkaichi Plant | Japan Responsible Care Council (JRCC) | Responsible Care Award |
2010 | Chiba Plant | Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA) | Award for Safety Excellence |
2012 | Yokkaichi Plant | Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA) | Most Excellence Award for Safety |
2013 | Chiba Plant | Japan Chemical Industry Association | Responsible Care Award |
2013 | JSR Optic Tsukuba Co., Ltd. | Director-General, Fire Defense Agency | Fire Defense Award |
2013 | JSR Micro Kyushu Co., Ltd. | Director-General, Fire Defense Agency | Fire Defense Award |
2013 | JAPAN COLORING CO., LTD. | Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry | Award for Excellent Energy Management Plant |