Sustainability
Environmental Impact Reduction Throughout the Supply Chain
In recent years, there has been near-global consensus on the need for a circular economy—a business model in which resources are used in a circular manner. Aiming to establish a manufacturing model that generates zero environmental load throughout the life cycles of its products, in June 2024 Fuji Electric updated the message of its Environmental Vision 2050. We also established a new Fiscal 2030 Goal of transitioning to environmentally friendly products that meet the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
Previously, during production we focused on reducing the proportion of waste sent to landfill, and on controlling water intake; going forward, however, in addition to these activities, we intend to apply ourselves to limiting the total amount of waste we generate. For this reason, we plan to review the designs of the products we manufacture, and transition to the manufacture of environmentally friendly products. More specifically, we have formulated evaluation criteria for environmentally friendly products based on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and we will gradually phase out products that do not meet these criteria. We also intend to work together with our suppliers to promote activities aimed at calculating and reducing our carbon footprints. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate environmental load throughout the life cycles of our products, and thereby contribute to the realization of a recycling-oriented society that coexists harmoniously with nature.
Effective Use of Resources and Conservation of Raw materials
At Fuji Electric, we are engaged in efforts to ensure the efficient use of resources and reduce our use of raw materials. In line with ISO 14001, we are working to improve our environmental management systems in the most effective manner, according to the individual characteristics of each of our factories. The effectiveness of these efforts is verified through assessments by external organizations based on ISO 14001.
Specifically, we have tasked the following two Subcommittees to improve our environmental management systems; design divisions and manufacturing divisions set and work to achieve goals independent of each other.
For design divisions, the Product Assessment Subcommittee seeks to make products more compact, lighter, and longer lasting; it also aims to minimize use of difficult-to-recycle plastics and eliminate the use of hazardous chemical substances.
For manufacturing divisions, the Waste Management Subcommittee seeks to ensure raw materials are used efficiently, prevent defective products, and to increase recycling rates by reusing packing materials and strengthening waste sorting processes.
Fuji Electric will continue to promote improvement activities at its factories, and leverage these improvements to transition toward the manufacture of environmentally friendly products.
Reducing Environmental Impact Throughout the Entire Product Lifecycle
In pursuit of our Environmental Vision 2050 to realize a circular society, Fuji Electric is developing environmentally friendly design items and standards in accordance with the EU Eco-design Directive, with the aim of creating products aligned with a circular economy. Through reducing the environmental impact across the entire product lifecycle, Fuji Electric is committed to contributing to the resolution of our customers’ environmental challenges.
Approach to Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP)
We are working on quantifying greenhouse gas emissions across the product lifecycle in terms of CO₂ emissions.
In fiscal 2024, we conducted a pilot calculation for two flagship models (electromagnetic switch and vending machine) covering procurement to production, and identified challenges for full-scale calculation.
In fiscal 2025, we plan to expand the scope to include additional products such as low-voltage inverters and semiconductors, and will also work on collecting primary data in collaboration with our business partners.
Promoting Circular Economy
Environmentally Friendly Products
We will promote conformity to the standards stipulated in Japan and overseas environmental regulations as well as increase the ratio of new products that are “environmentally friendly products” over the medium to long term. We will establish evaluation items and standards at the product development and design stages, and build a system to evaluate our products’ environmental impacts and work to reduce such environmental impacts.
Environmental Traceability
To visualize whether our products are produced in a sustainable manner, we will promote the visualization of environmental traceability on a per-product basis using DPP. In cooperation with our business partners, we will disclose information on our products’ raw materials, CFP, and recyclability to customers and society at large, and we will work to create a system that enables customers to choose our products with confidence.
