Worldwide, environmental regulations are being strengthened to preserve the beauty of the Earth. Whether global or local, compliance with environmental regulations has become an integral part of the corporate mission. Companies today recognize the need to address issues such as risk management and environmental information disclosure, while complying with greenhouse gas emissions regulations, the prohibition of products containing harmful chemical substances and ISO 14001 legal requirements. Here is an overview of Casio’s environmental compliance initiatives.
Standards Management and Audits: Regular Internal Audits and Third-party Audits
There are 13 Casio sites which have obtained ISO 14001 certification.
Of these, three sites belonging to Casio Computer Co., Ltd. (Headquarters [which includes seven sales sites], Hamura R&D Center, and Hachioji R&D Center) began working under integrated certification in fiscal 2018.
Each of these sites regularly implements conditions management and improvement activities by measuring concentrations of dust, SOx, and NOx in exhaust emissions, based on voluntary standards and standards established by national and local governments. They also measure wastewater quality (water containing harmful substances). Moreover, the sites measure and report usage conditions for harmful atmospheric pollutants, as well as handling quantities and atmospheric emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Further, each site trains internal environmental auditors, conducts internal audits, and also undertakes regular third-party audits by external organizations. If there is any non-conformity, corrective measures are taken in accordance with internally specified procedures and continuous improvement activities are carried out.
With a view to strengthening Casio’s environmental risk management and improving its environmental performance in the future, internal environmental auditors are expected to play a role as front-line leaders of environmental compliance. Toward this end, they are enhancing their ability to perceive environmental risks, increasing their specialized knowledge of environmental laws and regulations as well as chemicals management, and also identifying issues and proposing improvements.
Compliance Audits in the Phases of Product Development, Design, and Manufacturing
In recent years, laws and regulations on the environmental performance of products have become stricter. In addition to stricter regulations in EU nations and US states, stronger laws are also being discussed and enacted in the newly emerging economies of Asia and Latin America, referencing those already established by developed countries. In some cases, the newer laws are based on the established ones, but they often have small differences in the specific requirements. It is vital for Casio to interpret these regulations properly, and make whatever product adjustments are needed.
Casio has established an Expert Sub-Committee on Environmental Law within its Product Regulation Committee. The sub-committee includes representatives from technology, development/design, procurement, sustainability, sales and service departments. It checks information on environmental laws and regulations and studies measures to ensure compliance with them. The members share information, rapidly establish reasonable response policies, and confirm response progress not only for currently established laws and regulations but also for new laws and regulations currently being considered. Through these activities, they provide support for development, design, manufacturing, and sales departments. They also share information on product regulations other than those related to the environment (such as electrical safety, radio, and wireless regulations), in an effort to comprehensively rationalize Casio’s response to product regulations.
The Expert Sub-Committee on Environmental Law focuses on investigating and checking the following matters:
- Gathering and sharing legal information from and with sources such as industrial associations, sales companies in each region, information services, and other companies in the same industry
- Analyzing and interpreting legal information
- Ensuring obligations are met by manufacturing, import, export, and sales entities
- Creating development and design standards, and conducting inspections
- Improving the usage efficiency for design support tools (database of chemical substances contained in products, etc.)
Casio carries out environmental assessments of each product before new products ship to market, to check to ensure environmental design that complies not only with laws and regulations but also with Casio internal rules.
Compliance Relating to Chemical Substances Contained in Products
Countries around the world have implemented new laws pertaining to chemical substances contained in electrical and electronics products, while existing laws continue to be strengthened each year. Individual laws and regulations vary in terms of the applicable chemical substances, regulated applications, exempt applications, threshold values, scope, and requirements (content restrictions, labeling, and information provision, etc.).
Casio consolidated the requirements of various laws on chemical substances contained in products and has incorporated them into the Casio Green Procurement Standards. Then, the development and design departments established a system to ensure compliance with regulations worldwide by checking a database to see whether a part or material to be included in a product meets the Casio Green Procurement Standards.
Further, when making shipment decisions, a chemical substance audit is conducted to check compliance with chemical laws and regulations in the sales region and make sure that all the parts and materials used in a product meet the chemical substance standards.
Environmental Laws and Regulations Related to Casio Products and Green Procurement
As a company with operations around the world, Casio must comply with the laws and standards of many different countries.
This is why Casio starts with the design and procurement stages to ensure that its products comply with restrictions on specified chemical substances in parts and materials, while complying with obligations for labeling, information provision and energy-saving standards for finished products.
Covering the procurement stage, Casio has formulated Casio Green Procurement Standards to cover the legal regulations for the chemical substances contained in Casio products, and is procuring its parts and materials in accordance with those standards. To ensure that Casio products comply with the latest laws and standards around the world, the Casio Green Procurement Standards are constantly reviewed and updated. Thus, by procuring parts and materials that meet its own strict standards, Casio can be confident that its product development meets legal requirements worldwide. Casio also ensures the compliance of its products by scientifically verifying and analyzing the content of chemical substances in parts and materials used.
In the design stage, the company confirms that all parts and materials that will go into a completed Casio product meet the Casio Green Procurement Standards. Products are approved for production only after confirmation using a database of the chemical substances contained in procured materials.
Casio selects recyclable materials and provides symbol marks and the necessary information to ensure separate collection, complying with the relevant laws and standards worldwide on product recovery and recycling as well as on chemical substances contained in products.
In response to laws and regulations requiring more energy-saving designs (such as the ErP Ecodesign Directive), Casio is creating technical documents and other internal standards.
The table below shows the principal environmental laws relating to the distribution of Casio products in countries around the world.
As an initiative to help prevent climate change in the procurement stage, Casio requests suppliers not to use greenhouse gases in the manufacturing process, and also to ascertain and reduce their emissions of CO2. In the development and design stages, Casio promotes product development by setting targets that surpass its competitors' products with the best energy consumption efficiency in the same category.
Compliance Relating to the Proper Collection, Recycling, and Disposal of Used Products
Countries around the world also have regulations for the collection and recycling of used electrical and electronics products, packaging materials, and batteries. Companies must comply with the requirements of each law including product design to save resources and facilitate recycling, labeling and information provision to promote user participation in the sorted collection of products for recycling, as well as information provision for proper product disposal.
Casio evaluates products in terms of resource savings, ease of dismantling, recycling potential, and recycled material content. Confirmation is also made to see whether the recycling labels and displayed information meet legal requirements worldwide.
In response to the enactment of Japan’s Small Electronic Devices Recycling Act in April 2013, Casio has put together a project team including employees involved in every product category (such as designers), aiming to ensure products being developed are easily recyclable. Casio is asking intermediate processors and metal smelters who recycle used small household appliances to participate in interviews regarding dismantling methods and other issues. The lessons learned are being incorporated into internal design manuals, helping Casio to develop products that are easy to recycle.
Compliance Relating to Power Consumption
There are also regulations on power consumption and efficiency for electrical and electronics products including external power supplies and chargers, based on product categories and power source types. Companies must also meet various requirements relating to power consumption and efficiency, including regulations that require the meeting of minimum standards and those that mandate the display of power consumption information. Casio confirms the applicable regulations for each of its products, and carries out product development and design to meet the requirements. Approval applications and reports are made to the relevant agencies as necessary.
Compliance Relating to Energy Saving and the Prevention of Global Warming
Casio is committed to further consideration and strengthening of its voluntary efforts, such as the targets included in the Casio Group’s Environmental Action Plan, to reflect laws and regulations related to energy-saving and the fight against global warming.
Casio has measures addressing regulations around the globe, but this section focuses on the steps Casio is taking to comply with the laws and regulations in Japan that apply to its relatively large business facilities.
1. Act on the Rational Use of Energy
Pursuant to the requirements of the Energy Conservation Law, Casio is separately evaluating the rational use of energy at the business level. Casio Computer Co., Ltd. and Yamagata Casio are both currently designated as specified businesses. Since fiscal 2010, Casio has been regularly submitting reports and medium and long-term plans on this issue, and in accordance with the determination standards relating to the rational use of energy at plants and facilities, has been promoting the development of management systems, such as creating the new position of energy management supervisor.
2. Act on the Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures
Casio does not exceed the standards for emissions of greenhouse gases other than CO2 arising from energy use set by Japan’s Act on the Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures. It is complying with requirements for the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, by regularly submitting reports under the Act on the Rational Use of Energy.
3. Environmental Regulations in Tokyo
Under the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Security Ordinance’s Carbon Reduction Reporting Program, if the total energy usage on a crude oil equivalent basis for a business’ several small and medium-sized facilities set up within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area reaches 3,000 kl/year or higher, the business must submit a report including the status of initiatives to save energy at each facility.
Below are the Carbon Reduction Countermeasures Reports that Casio is obliged to submit and make public in accordance with this program (in Japanese).
Compliance Relating to Environmental Information Disclosure
There is a growing international movement calling for the creation of information disclosure standards for companies.
Along with the need for Japanese standards to coincide with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), there is a movement calling for the provision of Management Commentaries (MC) as a form of disclosure of non-financial and corporate forecast information. In other words, companies will need to disclose non-financial data which describes the connections between the company’s current situation, business strategy, risks, and financial performance, and other relevant information.
In order to provide its stakeholders with the proper environmental information in a way that it is easy to understand, Casio has the following aims.
- To adopt more accurate indices relating to environmental impact, and to provide comparable information
- To provide non-financial information including environmental information that indicates the connections with corporate strategy
- To explain the capability of environmental information to improve corporate performance
Along with working to disclose environmental information, Casio will promote international disclosure standards for non-financial information, and work towards standardization.