事業所見学会(ユニバーサル製缶㈱結城工場にて)
Theme of activities | Activities during FYE March 2024 | Self- assessment |
Targets/plans for activities from FYE March 2025 onwards |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
A |
|
Self-assessment grades A: Target achieved B: Target mostly achieved C: Target not achieved
This “Environmental Policy of the Mitsubishi Materials Group” was established based on the Sustainability Policy and is considered to be the foundation for the business activities of the Mitsubishi Materials Group.
(Last revised date: December 1, 2021)
We have established the Environmental Management Panel to be a dedicated subcommittee under the SCQ Promotion Office that formulates and implements Group-wide environmental measures. We appoint environmental management supervisors for each business division and manufacturing site. They work to prevent pollution and ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations by collaborating closely with the head office environmental management department.
We operate environmental management systems under the ISO 14001 standard and other environmental management systems at our sites. Under those systems, we engage in continuous activities to ensure compliance with laws and regulations and improve our environmental performance. We have worked to develop and implement environmental training programs and legal checking systems to cultivate managers who possess knowledge of environmental technologies, laws and regulations.
In particular, the Group regards waste management as a key business process and promotes the use of recycled raw materials, such as in our metal smelting and refining business. We appoint staff who are responsible for waste management and those in charge of practical operations at each facility. We provide training on laws and regulations and apply strict operating rules in our efforts to ensure appropriate waste management and compliance with relevant laws and regulations. We provide education for staff responsible for waste management with the aim of understanding waste risks and the roles required by introducing the latest case studies on waste management. For staff in charge of practical operations, we organize seminars for understanding the specific regulations of the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Act.
Attendance | ||
---|---|---|
Waste management training | For managers | 33 |
For operational personnel | 85 |
To handle the environmental issues that arise at our sites, we have established an office providing the consultation services of staff specialized in environmental issues, at our head office. This office provides detailed support, ensures that useful information is shared between the head office and other sites, and responds to environmental issues.
We hold an annual Meeting of Administrative Managers Responsible for Environmental Management for management-level staff at our facilities. At these meetings, we share information about environmental measures and issues. In addition, we give annual site tours for environmental management supervisors. These tours are opportunities to learn methods of operating onsite related to environmental management and initiatives for preventing environmental accidents, and to exchange information with supervisors from other sites.
We keep all our sites up to date on changes in legislation applied to the Mitsubishi Materials Group by providing information via intranet or email. In the event of major revisions or revisions requiring measures such as equipment upgrades, we hold explanatory meetings to share information on the requisite measures and ensure that all our sites are prepared to take appropriate action.
Current laws and regulations are checked periodically at each site. In addition, the Internal Audit Department checks the status of compliance with environmental laws and regulations, how chemical substances are handled, how equipment is managed and so on. When a noncompliance is discovered we correct it promptly and share information about it with related sites as part of our efforts to improve the level of management in the overall Group.
In the event of installation of new facilities, facility upgrades/changes, or any other projects involving new operations above a certain scale, individual sites as well as relevant head office divisions determine what notifications they are required to submit.
With regard to our compliance with environment-related laws and regulations in the fiscal year ended March 2023, including water pollution, air pollution and waste disposal, we were not subject to any adverse dispositions (revoked permits, orders to cease operations, orders to stop use of equipment, fines, etc.) by regulatory authorities.
We received 3 complaints regarding odor, noise, and weed growth. For all of these we promptly investigated the causes and implemented the necessary countermeasures.
In accordance with its Environmental Policy, the Mitsubishi Materials Group identifies environmental risks it faces and takes measures to prevent such risks from materializing.
Pollution of air, bodies of water, soil or groundwater by hazardous substance leaks, or inadequate treatment of industrial waste could have a detrimental impact on the environment, as well as a serious impact on our business activities as a group. We carry out risk assessments in line with the nature of our business activities, the substances that we handle, and the locations of individual sites, and take action as necessary. In addition to preventing inadequate waste treatment at our own departments, we take steps to ensure that we do not overlook inadequate treatment by contractors by taking measures including on-site confirmation.
At the closed mines (non-ferrous metal mines) we own, in order to prevent mining-induced pollution, we continue to maintain tailings dams, mining tunnels and mining water conduit, and to appropriately process acid wastewater containing heavy metals generated from these locations. Biodiversity is also an important environmental risk for us. At the mines from which we procure raw materials (such as ores), we have established environmental and social standards, including standards for the conservation of biodiversity, and we confirm our compliance with these standards. In addition, we manage the company-owned forests in Japan to ensure a high level of ecosystem services from them. They fulfill a certain standard that has been assured by our acquisition of a forest certification.
To reduce climate change risks, we take multiple approaches for the conservation of energy and the reduction of CO2 emissions. We also study CO2 capture and use, and generate renewable energy. Regarding the risk that a shortage of freshwater resources could impact our business activities, we conduct risk assessments for our major facilities in Japan and overseas and take measures including the effective utilization of seawater, water conservation through the improvement of the efficiency of the production process, water recycling, and ensuring that wastewater is treated and purified.
In the fiscal year ended March 2024, we invested approximately \2.8 billion in areas including construction at the Tohoku Power Service Station of the Komatagawa New Power Plant (hydroelectric power plant) certified as a renewable energy power generation facility, and the renewal of equipment at copper smelting and refining plants, with the goal of preventing air pollution and water pollution.
Costs associated with environmental preservation came to around \7.3 billion, including environmental measures such as exhaust gas treatment, wastewater treatment and waste disposal, as well as the maintenance and management of equipment to prevent pollution, waste disposal, and maintenance of anti-pollution facilities, etc.
Category | Investment Amount | Expense Amount | |
---|---|---|---|
Business area total costs | Business area costs | 2,816 |
6,676 |
Pollution prevention costs | 2,039 |
2,712 |
|
Global environmental conservation costs | 711 |
301 |
|
Resource recycling costs | 66 |
3,663 |
|
Upstream/downstream costs | 0 |
0 |
|
Administration costs | 0 |
230 |
|
R&D costs | 19 |
66 |
|
Social activity costs | 0 | 1 |
|
Environmental remediation costs | 9 |
287 |
|
Total | 2,844 |
7,260 |
Purpose of activities | Activities during the FYE 2024 | Self- assessment |
Targets/plans for activities from the FYE 2025 onwards |
---|---|---|---|
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| A |
|
Self-assessment grades A: Target achieved B: Target mostly achieved C: Target not achieved
We are a company with its origins in the mining industry. The Mitsubishi Materials Group owns a wide range of mines around Japan, including limestone, coal and nonferrous metal mines, such as copper, lead and zinc mines. Operations at all of our non-ferrous metal mines have now been suspended or discontinued. Currently, we are managing 20 closed mines across 15 locations. We have continued to implement the following controls and management programs for our closed mines on a long-term basis, pursuant to Article 5 of our Code of Conduct, which states, “[Environmental Management] We will work to manage our environmental impact and promote decarbonization, make efficient use of natural resources, and accelerate recycling.”
We continue to preserve and maintain sections of mine drift in some closed mines as cultural heritage sites or tourist facilities to exhibit their former conditions and preserve historical mining technologies for future generations.
Broadly speaking, acid mine drainage can be generated in two ways. There is the acidic water in the pits (mine water) containing heavy metals, generated through contact between oxidized minerals and rainwater and groundwater, which can fill the underground pits and mining cavities formed in mineralized belts due to mining operations. Then there is the permeated water (wastewater) generated when small amounts of heavy metals, which are contained in slag and other substances in the tailings dams, come into contact with rainwater and surface water. The acid mine drainage goes to processing plants, where it undergoes neutralization and the removal of heavy metals. The water is then discharged into rivers at water quality levels that fall within wastewater standards.
The Group controls acid mine drainage treatment, tailings dams, mine drifts and entrance drifts. Acid mine drainage treatment involves the appropriate processing. Tailings dam control involves preventing stored slag and sediment from leaking out in case of dam body collapse. Mine drift and entrance drift control involves inspections to maintain waterways for acid mine drainage and sealing entrances to prevent injuries due to third-party trespassing in mine drifts and mine drift collapse. Of these measures, acid mine drainage control is carried out around the clock every day of the year.
Acid mine drainage treatment facilities (Yatani Mine)
Example of tailings dam management (Osarizawa Mine)
We are pushing forward with the digitalization of management tasks for closed mines to improve the management and efficiency of the tasks.
Visualization of operational data (displaying data trends)
Recording inspection results using smartphone (digitalization of inspection data)
Since 2015, our Group has been implementing responses to deteriorating natural disasters and other risks by conducting protective construction to guard against contamination, as well as reinforcing tailing dams to prevent uncontrolled release of slag and sediment in anticipation of a major earthquake, reducing wastewater at the source, strengthening the capacity of acid mine drainage treatment facilities, and upgrading aging facilities. We recorded an environmental countermeasure reserve for work expenses from the fiscal year ended March 2016 to the fiscal year ended March 2019, and in the fiscal year ended March 2023 we appropriated some additional funds to cover expenses for the repair and toughening of locations damaged due to torrential rains.
Drawing on lessons learned from the leakage of slag and sediment at tailings dams managed by other companies during the Great East Japan Earthquake, in November 2012, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry revised its technical guidelines on aseismic performance. Based on this, we evaluated the stability of the tailings dams managed by the Group, which revealed that measures needed to be implemented at 10 locations. Thus, we started construction work to design and implement stability measures at the locations in the fiscal year ended March 2016, and have completed these measures at nine of the locations.
Reinforcement work by soil stabilization at the Yatani Mine Tailings Dam (completion)
The operational burdens and risks associated with acid mine drainage treatment due to environmental changes (large-scale typhoons and guerrilla rainstorms) in recent years have increased. To ease these burdens and mitigate the risks, we are proceeding with source countermeasure construction, the strengthening of acid mine drainage treatment facility capacity and updating aging equipment. One way of the source countermeasures is to cover exposed surfaces of mineralized belts on a large scale, such as by using the latest technology (which enables greening that was previously difficult due to acidic rock conditions). This prevents rainwater from coming into direct contact with the mineralized belts, which reduces the amount of water to be processed as well as the burden of contamination.
Contamination containment work(Komagi Mine) (Top: before work, Bottom: after work)
Upgraded pit wastewater treatment facility (Osarizawa Mine)
All the Group’s non-ferrous metal mines are closed and some time has passed since the mines were closed down. As such, we have seen a decrease in relevant human resources as engineers with skills in non-ferrous metal mine management have either reached advanced age or retired. In order to continue to sustainably manage closed mines, we are continually providing opportunities to train young engineers with little mining experience, and setting up a variety of educational programs for engineers (including programs for acquiring skills for the management of closed mines and for obtaining relevant qualifications), including the use of web training and on-demand instruction. In this way, we strive to transfer mine management skills.
Training on mine wastewater treatment process
Engineer training (basic training)
We have opened an endowed laboratory in the field of resources environment and remediation at Hokkaido University, and since the fiscal year ended March 2018, we have continued to engage in a variety of education and research activities related to the protection of the mine environment. In coordination with the endowed course described above, we engage in a variety of R&D activities to repair and protect mine environments with the help of Hokkaido University as well as other universities and research institutions. We have widely publicized the achievements of these R&D efforts by presenting them in research papers, at symposiums and at other events.
A plant tour given to students from an endowed laboratory (site tour)
A greening survey at a former mining site
A river ecological survey (collection of benthos)
To promote local residents’ knowledge of our measures for preventing mining-induced pollution at our closed mines, we proactively hold sessions to explain countermeasure work and offer facility tours. We also strive to take part in environmental conservation activities and contribute to local communities through tree-planting and the release of juvenile fish, as well as participation in and cosponsoring of local events and festivals. In addition, we accept inspection tours of our mining facilities by students and researchers from Japan and overseas. We thus offer our facilities as locations for research and development and skills training related to the prevention of mining-induced pollution.