Nikon 2003 Annual Report Download - page 18

Establishment฀of฀Zero -Emissions฀Systems฀at฀Manufacturing฀Sites
In฀the฀year฀ended฀March฀2003,฀with฀the฀completion฀of฀systems฀targeting฀waste฀reduc-
tions,฀Nikon฀achieved฀zero -emissions฀one฀year฀ahead฀status฀at฀its฀ve฀main฀manufac-
turing฀sites฀in฀Japan฀(Ohi,฀Yokohama,฀Sagamihara,฀Kumagaya฀and฀Mito)฀as฀a฀result฀of฀
accelerated฀efforts฀to฀promote฀reduction฀and฀recycling฀of฀waste.฀Nikon฀denes฀zero -
emissions฀status฀as฀a฀reduction฀in฀the฀total฀volume฀of฀waste฀sent฀to฀landll฀to฀below฀1%฀
of฀all฀emissions.฀Future฀plans฀call฀for฀the฀achievement฀of฀zero-emissions฀status฀by฀major฀
manufacturing฀subsidiaries฀in฀Japan฀by฀the฀end฀of฀March฀2006฀(Sendai฀Nikon฀Corp.฀has฀
already฀achieved฀zero-emissions฀status).
Harmonious฀environmental฀co- existence฀and฀a฀recycling-oriented฀per-
spective฀have฀always฀been฀core฀aspects฀of฀Nikon’s฀fundamental฀business฀
philosophy.฀Nikon฀formulated฀its฀own฀basic฀environmental฀management฀
policy฀in฀1992,฀after฀which฀the฀company฀instituted฀a฀comprehensive฀pro -
gram฀of฀environmental฀conservation฀measures.฀This฀focused฀largely฀on฀
the฀conservation฀of฀energy฀and฀resources.฀Most฀Nikon฀Group฀companies฀
have฀obtained฀ISO฀14001฀certication฀for฀their฀environmental฀manage -
ment฀systems.฀Nikon฀also฀routinely฀applies฀its฀own฀quantitative฀product฀
assessment฀procedures฀to฀develop฀more฀eco- conscious฀products.
Modern฀society฀looks฀to฀corporations฀to฀institute฀advanced฀environ-
mental฀management฀practices฀so฀that฀sustainable฀development฀can฀be-
come฀a฀reality.฀In฀response,฀efforts฀are฀being฀intensied฀across฀the฀Nikon฀
Group฀to฀reduce฀the฀environmental฀impact฀of฀its฀activities.
Sorting฀and฀reduction฀of฀waste฀volume฀has฀been฀achieved฀
at฀the฀Sendai฀Nikon฀Recycling฀Center฀through฀the฀use฀of฀
special฀machines.
Development฀of฀Eco -Glass
Nikon฀has฀been฀working฀on฀various฀improvements฀to฀the฀
composition฀of฀optical฀glass฀to฀give฀it฀a฀more฀eco -conscious฀
prole.฀In฀1995,฀Nikon฀began฀full-scale฀development฀work฀
on฀a฀new฀type฀of฀environmentally-sound฀optical฀glass฀(eco -
glass)฀that฀does฀not฀contain฀toxic฀substances฀such฀as฀lead฀and฀
arsenic.฀After฀numerous฀design฀and฀development฀studies฀to฀
examine฀ways฀of฀retaining฀optical฀performance฀while฀eliminat-
ing฀such฀substances,฀Nikon฀began฀full-scale฀efforts฀at฀design-
ing฀optical฀products฀that฀incorporate฀the฀new฀eco -glass฀in฀
1998.฀Today,฀eco -glass฀is฀used฀as฀much฀as฀possible฀throughout฀
the฀Nikon฀product฀range,฀from฀steppers฀to฀cameras.฀In฀the฀
year฀ended฀March฀2003,฀the฀proportion฀of฀new฀optical฀designs฀
incorporating฀eco-glass฀topped฀90%.฀Nikon฀continues฀to฀work฀
to฀raise฀this฀proportion฀further฀and฀to฀ensure฀to฀minimize฀the฀
possibility฀of฀any฀environmental฀pollution฀throughout฀the฀life฀
cycles฀of฀the฀glass,฀from฀initial฀material฀to฀nal฀disposal฀stages.
Lenses฀and฀prisms฀made฀using฀eco- glass
Creation฀of฀Environmental฀Action฀Plan฀for฀
the฀Year฀Ending฀March฀2004
Each฀year,฀Nikon฀revises฀an฀environmental฀action฀plan฀that฀sets฀out฀specic฀
numerical฀performance฀targets฀for฀products฀and฀operating฀site฀environ-
ments.฀New฀targets฀and฀environmental฀conservation฀activity฀priorities฀are฀set฀
once฀progress฀status฀has฀been฀determined.฀In฀the฀year฀ending฀March฀2004,฀
the฀prime฀focus฀is฀partly฀dictated฀by฀the฀implementation฀of฀new฀EU฀direc-
tives฀prohibiting฀the฀import฀of฀products฀that฀contain฀certain฀levels฀of฀toxic฀
chemical฀substances฀such฀as฀hexavalent฀chromium฀and฀lead.฀Nikon฀has฀set฀
in฀place฀programs฀to฀switch฀to฀lead-free฀solder฀and฀to฀minimize฀the฀use฀of฀
lead฀in฀the฀mounting฀circuit฀board.฀The฀target฀is฀to฀raise฀the฀proportion฀of฀
lead-free฀printed฀circuit฀boards฀to฀100%฀for฀all฀consumer฀products฀by฀the฀
end฀of฀March฀2006,฀and฀to฀over฀50%฀for฀all฀industrial฀products฀by฀the฀same฀
date.฀Other฀aspects฀of฀the฀latest฀environmental฀plan฀include฀preparations฀
to฀enhance฀eliminating฀other฀toxic฀substances฀from฀products฀and฀to฀bolster฀
eco-friendly฀“green฀procurement”฀initiatives.
High-performance฀reow฀furnace฀for฀lead-free฀soldering
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E N V I R O N M E N T A L ฀ C O N S E R V A T I O N ฀ A C T I V I T I E S