Environmental Report

Measures to Reduce Water Usage and Effluent

In order to help realize a recycling-oriented society, the Lintec Group is working to reduce waste. It is also striving to save water, reuse waste water, while complying with the effluent control regulations and improving the quality of effluent generated.

Reducing Water Usage and Effluent

In fiscal 2021, Lintec used 7,718 thousand m3 of water. Of this amount, around 87% was used by the Kumagaya and Mishima plants, which comprise Lintec’s Fine & Paper Products Operations. In fiscal 2021, the water usage per unit of paper production was 50.43 m3/t, which achieved the target of a 1% reduction on a year-on-year basis.
The target in fiscal 2022 is a 1% reduction per unit of production from the previous year. To achieve the target, the plants will make continued efforts to reduce water usage and effluent discharge in each process and prevent water leaks. Moreover, plants that have paper machines are regulated by the Water Pollution Prevention Act. Additionally, the Mishima Plant, sited alongside the Akanoi river in Ehime Prefecture, is regulated by the Act on Special Measures for Conservation of the Environment of the Seto Inland Sea (Seto Inland Sea Act), while the Kumagaya Plant, situated next to the Arakawa river in Saitama Prefecture, is regulated by the Saitama Prefectural Ordinance for Environmental Preservation. Both satisfy effluent standards in their region.

Process from Water Intake to Effluent

Water usage data is calculated by source.

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Category FY2019 (thousand m3) FY2020 (thousand m3) FY2021 (thousand m3)
Total water usage 8,789 7,951 7,718
・Tap water 510 531 509
・Industrial water 4,455 3,660 3,715
・Groundwater 3,824 3,760 3,494
Effluent 6,589 6,163 6,630
  • Notes: Water usage data is the sum of the figures for tap water, industrial water, and groundwater.

For detailed data, click here

Standards, methods and preconditions used

Tap water, groundwater, and industrial water are measured value

Tap water, groundwater, and industrial water are measured value

Water usage (Kumagaya and Mishima Plants)

Water usage (Kumagaya and Mishima Plants)

Effluent treated (Kumagaya and Mishima plants)

Effluent treated (Kumagaya and Mishima plants)
  • Total of flowmeter data for effluent treatment equipment installed at the Kumagaya and Mishima plants.

Reducing Effluent

The total amount of water used by Lintec in fiscal 2021 was 7,718 thousand m3. About 87% of this was used at the Kumagaya and Mishima plants. These plants are working to reduce their water usage and effluent discharge by taking measures such as reusing used water in each paper making process. They will continue to renovate the water treatment facilities.

Effluent processing equipment at the Kumagaya Plant
Effluent processing equipment at the Kumagaya Plant

Effluent Water Quality (Fiscal 2021) (Kumagaya and Mishima plants)

Kumagaya Plant

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Item Effluent Water standards Results
Maximum value Average value
pH 7.8 7.16
Regulations on emission concentration SS 60(50) or less 45.60 12.47
BOD 20 or less 20.00 8.71
COD - 45.20 23.22
Regulations on total emissions COD (t/day) 0.858 or less 0.282 0.138
Nitrogen (t/day) 0.4068 or less 0.1413 0.3471
Phosphorous (t/day) 0.0418 or less 0.0126 0.0009

Mishima Plant

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Item Effluent Water standards Results
Maximum value Average value
pH 5.8~8.6 6.0~8.0 6.96
Regulations on emission concentration SS 80(60) or less 28 4
COD 90(65) or less 88.2 24.3
Total nitrogen 120 or less 77.9 4.5
Total phosphorous 16 or less 0.70 0.04
Regulations on total emissions COD (t/day) 0.9431 or less 0.5158 0.2500
Nitrogen (t/day) 0.3961 or less 0.1926 0.0465
Phosphorous (t/day) 0.0405 or less 0.0013 0.0004

VOICE My Next Stage

Mishima Plant selects pulp according to the purpose, mixes the pulp with water in a tank, processes the mixture with a defiberizer*1 and a beater*2, adds chemicals and color to it, and sends it to a paper machine. As the second stage of this process requires a large amount of water, we collect water from the paper machine's dehydration process as well as drain water*3 produced as a by-product of steam generated during the drying process for reuse in mixing with pulp. Thanks to these efforts, in fiscal 2021, the amount of reused water came to 562,552 tons, contributing to saving water equivalent to 59.7% of the total water volume. We also minimize the amount of water used when cleaning the inside of the tank. We will step up our water-saving efforts in cooperation with related departments.

  • *1Defiberizer: A machine to defiberize pulp
  • *2Beater: A machine to cut pulp
  • *3Drain water: Hot water produced when compressed steam is cooled and condensed
宮崎 隆昌
Takamasa Miyazaki
Fine & Specialty Paper Production Department
Mishima Plant