Omron 2004 Annual Report Download - page 27

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ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES
The Omron Group views environmental
issues as important management tasks,
and promotes environmental management
practices that enhance both economy and
ecology. Green Omron 21, an environ-
mental vision released in May 2002,
expresses our direction, plans, and goals
for environmental management. It is
aimed at long-term maximization of corpo-
rate value and contributing to a recycle-
based sustainable society.
Efforts during fiscal 2003 included (1)
the promotion of zero emissions through
100% recycling and reuse of waste prod-
ucts generated in our business activities; (2)
evaluation of the environmental manage-
ment systems of suppliers, and investiga-
tion of chemical substances subject to reg-
ulated use in purchased parts and materi-
als; and (3) provisional implementation of an
environmental management assessment
system, aimed at promoting prioritization of
environmental concerns throughout the
Omron Group, as well as accelerating envi-
ronment-related efforts. During fiscal 2004,
we plan to formulate a long-term environ-
mental vision extending through 2010.
ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING
The Omron Group is tackling implementa-
tion of efficient environmental accounting in
order to quantify its environment-related
investments and expenses and to confirm
their effectiveness for promoting efficient
environmental management.
We introduced environmental account-
ing at our Japanese production sites from
fiscal 2001, and expanded it the following
year to cover our Japanese non-produc-
tion sites. In the future we will also include
our Japanese non-production affiliates,
and our overseas production sites.
In fiscal 2003 we began to examine
what we call internal environmental
accounting indicators in order to allocate
environmental costs so as to best achieve
environmental benefits.
GREEN PROCUREMENT
After the RoHS Directive*1and WEEE
Directive*2came into effect in Europe in
February 2003, the Group was presented
with stronger requirements from cus-
tomers not to use hazardous chemical
substances in its products. As a result,
Omron moved from fiscal 2003 to offer
environmentally guaranteed products.
With this change of policy, we revised
our certification standards for suppliers
and imposed several conditions on them.
These conditions include: the provision of
information on regulated substances con-
tained in supplied materials and ensuring
the accuracy of said information, as well
as the acquisition of ISO 14001 certifica-
tion or other third-party environmental
management certificates by the end of
March 2006.
Going forward, we continue to go on
with the certification of suppliers based on
the revised standards, and from April
2006 we will procure materials only from
“green suppliers” who satisfy our supplier
certification standards.
*1 RoHS Directive: Restriction of Hazardous Substances
in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (pro-
hibiting the use of six specified hazardous sub-
stances)
*2 WEEE Directive: Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Directive (requiring collection and recycling
of affected products at the end of their life cycle)
Scope:
15 Japanese production sites, and
7 Japanese non-production sites.
Environmental costs:
¥1.84 billion (investments: ¥0.3 billion;
expenses: ¥1.54 billion).
Economic benefits due to reduced
expenses:
¥74.4 million (effects in real terms versus the
previous fiscal year only)
New System for Reduction of Hazardous Chemical Substances
Recent years have seen the reinforcement of laws and regulations in Europe, the United States, and China for regulating the used of
hazardous chemicals. As a result, corporate policy on the management and handling of such substances is increasingly being
questioned.
We set up a Rechs system, a survey support system for chemicals contained in materials, and in October 2003 we started to
collect information on regulated chemicals contained in materials provided from suppliers. We also established an E-Warps system,
a support system for the design of environmentally-guaranteed products, for the use of product design and information disclosure
on products.
These systems began functioning in part from April 2004, and are now being used for abolishing totally the use of hazardous
chemicals designated by RoHS Directive. The Omron Group will introduce improvements in those two systems in the future with a
view to smoother collection of information on the environmental responsiveness of products, business improvement associated with
the development of environmentally guaranteed products, and compatibility with overseas requirements. By the end of March
2006, we plan to provide environmental guaranty for all our products around the world.