Environmental Report

Environmental Management System

Under the slogan, "We have to broaden our scope when working to support the environment. There is only one Earth", Lintec has established, operates and is constantly improving its environment management system, and is carrying out a variety of environmental protection initiatives.

Lintec Group Quality, Environmental and Business Continuity Policies

The Lintec Group sets forth its Basic Policy in the Lintec Group Quality, Environmental and Business Continuity Policy. To practice specific activities, the Group has drawn up a Quality Policy, Environmental Policy, and Business Continuity Policy, as well as Action Guidelines for each.
For climate change mitigation and adaptation, based on the Action Guidelines for Environmental Policy, we promote the development of environmentally friendly products at the research division, and work to reduce VOC and CO2 emissions, energy(electricity and fuel) usage, and waste discharge, among others, at the production division.

  • VOC: VOC stands for volatile organic compounds. VOC collectively refers to organic compounds that become gas in the atmosphere.

Medium-Term Targets (2020 to 2022) and Results

In fiscal 2021, production increased with the launch of new equipment but energy use per unit of production remained at the same level as the previous year.
The amount of water used for washing increased to fulfill orders for a wide variety of products sought in small quantities. Despite difficulties caused by production adjustment due to a water shortage, water usage per unit of production improved by 1.2% compared to the previous year. We will redouble our reduction efforts by devising a better method of reusing water used in manufacturing one product for producing another product. We aim to reduce waste discharge by making improvements to increase the yield rate and ensuring comprehensive classification. In addition, we aim to improve the final disposal rate through the effective use of waste.
In fiscal 2021, which is the first year of the medium-term business plan under the long-term vision for the period up to fiscal 2030, we are making efforts in line with the basic approach of the long-term vision: to solve social issues through our business activities.

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Item Target FY2021 results
(year-on-year reduction)
CO2 emissions 1% reduction from the previous year
(per unit of production)
0.02% increase <Not achieved>
Electric power consumption 1% reduction from the previous year
(per unit of production)
0.82% increase <Not achieved>
Production water usage 1% reduction from the previous year
(per unit of production)
(Paper production at the Mishima and Kumagaya plants)
1.2% improvement <Achieved>
Waste discharge 0.1% reduction from the previous year 5.9% increase <Not achieved>

Environmental Management System

Based on the Lintec Group Quality, Environmental and Business Continuity Policy, the Lintec Group proactively works on conservation of the global environment. With regard to worldwide integrated ISO 14001 certification, in fiscal 2020 we underwent a renewal audit and received a certificate of approval (issue 14). We have been promoting information sharing among 12 domestic sites and 10 overseas sites covered by the integrated certification. We also underwent third-party verification regarding electric power consumption, production water usage, CO2 emissions, waste discharge, and VOC emissions. The verification found no important issues requiring correction. For biodiversity conservation, we continue to engage in relevant activities, such as tree planting and beach cleanups. To reduce marine plastic waste, LINTEC Corporation has also been a member of CLOMA and is making efforts as a corporate citizen to propose and promote environmentally friendly products.

  • CLOMA: CLOMA stands for Clean Ocean Material Alliance. It is a platform to promote the sustainable use of plastic products and development and introduction of plastic alternatives, and to accelerate innovation through public-private partnerships, toward the reduction of marine plastic litter. CLOMA was established under the initiative of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Internal Environmental Auditing

In order to ensure proper implementation of environmental management systems in connection with its business activities, the Lintec Group conducts internal audits and mutual audits of its business sites, and runs the PDCA cycle for improvement with respect to legal compliance and system operations.
As in the previous year, we could not conduct mutual audits in FY2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, each business site prepared and submitted detailed reports on a quarterly basis for the purpose of monitoring the progress of activities toward the targets.
Findings from internal and external audits are studied with respect to the situation of occurrence, background, and essence of findings, and resultant insights are applied to other sites to improve related activities across the company.
As for sites outside Japan, we enhanced communication by holding numerous online meetings as an alternative to visiting individual locations.

Environmental Compliance

The Lintec Group's operations in and outside of Japan are subject to numerous national and regional environmental laws and regulations. To ensure legal compliance at each site, the environmental management department constantly checks for revisions to relevant laws and regulations, and monitors the compliance status of respective site operations. Identified revisions are incorporated into the Group's environmental management systems on a regular basis to prevent oversights and omissions. No major legal violations have been reported in the 9 years from fiscal 2013 to 2021.

  • Major legal violations: Offences that are subject to fines or other penalties

Biodiversity Conservation Initiatives

Upholding biodiversity conservation in the Lintec Group Quality, Environmental and Business Continuity Policy, the Lintec Group accordingly conducts biodiversity conservation activities in and outside of Japan.
The Tatsuno Plant in Japan maintains and monitors conservation-listed deep-veined maple trees and uses red robin trees for greening purposes.

Deep-veined maple
Deep-veined maple
Red robin
Red robin

The Chiba Plant covered the west wall of its warehouse with a green curtain as an immediate measure against global warming.

Curtain of bitter gourd, morning glory, etc.
Curtain of bitter gourd, morning glory, etc.