The vision aims to ensure sustainable use of natural resources in business operations and minimize the environmental impact due to wastes.
Toward 2050, the Brother Group will maximize resource circulation to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources and minimize the environmental impact due to wastes.
Main efforts: Reuse of products and parts, use of recycled materials, etc.
Progress Toward Resource Circulation and Waste Reduction Targets
The mid-term target aims to reduce* the consumption of resources for main products, achieve efficient use of water resources, and ensure proper treatment of wastewater.
Mid-term target for FY2030
- Mechanisms for resource circulation have been established throughout the value chain. Efforts have been made to reduce the amount of new natural resources that are used in main products.
- The group's manufacturing facilities continuously endeavor to ensure efficient use of water resources and proper treatment of wastewater.
- Regarding the reduction of consumption of resources for products, the reduction target values will be set by FY2021 while monitoring the development of global environmental regulations.
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Resource Circulation Initiatives
Plastics are useful resources that are inexpensive and easy to mold, and are used in many products all over the world. However, plastic waste, most of which is not yet being recycled, is causing environmental problems such as marine plastic pollution and soil contamination. To help mitigate these environmental problems, the Brother Group has increased the use of recycled plastics in printing equipment, our main business, and formulated an internal goal for reducing the use of polystyrene foam, a plastic packaging material that cannot be easily recycled. Through these initiatives, the Brother Group aims to contribute to the recycling of plastics and reducing the environmental impact related to plastic manufacturing. In the future, the Brother Group plans to accelerate these activities and promote resource circulation throughout our value chain.
Examples of Resource Circulation
Exploring recycling possibilities for the sake of the future global environment
In Europe, we started a recycling program in 2004 by adopting newly developed recycling-compatible toner cartridges.
Thanks to an automated recycling system we introduced, we are able to offer the same high quality in recycled cartridges, as well.
In 2014, the Brother Group group received two prestigeous awards in the 2014 Responsible Business Awards given out by Business in the Community, a U.K.-based NPO. The group's contribution to communities and the environment was recognized.
Video contents of brotherearth.com
The Brother Group's Water Usage Reduction Activities
Securing safe water resources is an important environmental challenge for the global community. The Brother Group has been monitoring all of our sites regularly, evaluating water risks at each site every year, and working to reduce water consumption to fulfill our responsibilities as an operator of manufacturing facilities in many countries and regions. At the 13 facilities with relatively higher water consumption, we also formulate water management plans and implement various initiatives.
In FY2019, we formulated the Brother Group Environmental Action Plan 2021 (2019-2021) and stated a target of reducing water consumption at manufacturing facilities by 3% from FY2018 (April 1, 2018-March 31, 2019) levels by FY2021 (April 1, 2021-March 31, 2022) (per unit of sales), and are making efforts to reduce water consumption. In FY2020, we took measures such as improving production efficiency, reducing restroom water consumption, and switching to water-saving taps. Furthermore, there were production adjustments due to the impact of COVID-19. Therefore, there was a significant reduction of 25.5% from the FY2018 level (per unit of sales).
Since FY2020, we also started reusing the cooling tower water at Brother Technology (Shenzhen) Ltd. and Brother Industries (Vietnam) Ltd., contributing toward the rate of water recycling.
Water circulation efforts at Brother Machinery Xian Co., Ltd.
Brother Machinery Xian Co., Ltd. (BMX) is located in an area with relatively high water risk since water resources are not abundant there. In FY2018, as part of an effort to circulate water, BMX installed a rainwater collection tank inside its site and is continuing to use the collected water for maintaining greenery.
Scope of aggregation
| After FY2018 |
|---|
| Eight business sites in Japan (head office of Brother Industries, Ltd., Mizuho Manufacturing Facility, Hoshizaki Manufacturing Facility, Minato Manufacturing Facility, Momozono Manufacturing Facility, Kariya Manufacturing Facility, Research & Development Center, and Logistics Center), Nissei Corporation, Mie Brother Precision Industries, Ltd., Brother Industries (U.K.) Ltd., Brother Industries (Slovakia) s.r.o., Taiwan Brother Industries, Ltd., Zhuhai Brother Industries, Co., Ltd., Brother Machinery Xian Co., Ltd., Brother Technology (Shenzhen) Ltd., Brother Industries (Philippines), Brother Industries (Vietnam) Ltd., Brother Machinery Vietnam Co., Ltd. * and Brother Industries Saigon, Ltd., Inc. |
- Brother Machinery Vietnam Co., Ltd. ceased production on December 23, 2020.
Water Intake, Wastewater Volume, Volume of Water Recycled
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water intake(m3) | Clean water | 669,888 | 550,645 | 504,122 |
| Industrial water | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Underground water | 99,816 | 100,557 | 87,474 | |
| Wastewater volume(m3) | River | 223,764 | 190,703 | 179,782 |
| Sewer system | 448,096 | 382,111 | 338,746 | |
| Others | 422 | 251 | 1,177 | |
| Volume of water recycled(m3) | 288 | 421 | 3,759 | |
| Percent of water recycled(%) | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | |
The scope of aggregation was directly related to the product range.
For the list of applicable sites, see "Material balance" [PDF/240KB].
