Environment-Friendly Products and Recycling
Technology

Environment-Friendly Products
To protect the environment and contribute to the realizationof a sustainable society, Furukawa Electric recognizes that"the 21st century is the century of the environment", andin response to the needs of society and our customers, isactively working to develop environment-friendly products andtechnologies. Our aim is to develop a range of commercially
viable "environment-harmonized" products--products thatat every stage, from materials selection, manufacture anduse to distribution and disposal, will be non-toxic and of low
environmental impact.

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[Product Development in Future]
In future, new product development must take account of theenvironmental impact over the whole life of the product, andlife cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique that is gaining wide
acceptance. Furukawa Electric has already begun conducting
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life cycle assessments in relation to the development of insulated
cables and aluminum heat exchangers. The results will beapplied for material selection and manufacturing.

Environment-Friendly Products and Recycling Technology

1

Toward Realization of Recycle-Oriented Society
We are moving to develop products that reuse waste materials, products that feature unification of materials tofacilitate recycling and products that are biodegradable and thus do not leave residual waste products.

Recycled Aluminum Can Stock
The use of can stock made from used beveragecans contributes to promoting aluminum recycling.

Underground Cable Duct Made of Cable Waste" KOHTA KUN "This underground cable duct with multiple
bores makes effective use of plastic waste.
The product has acquired the ECO mark.
"KOICHI KUN" duct for information box use is also
highly reputed.

Biodegradable Resin Foam " BIO ACE "Environment-Conscious Cable Delivery Drum
" KANTAN KUN "This is an environment-conscious cable delivery drumusing steel to make resource recycling easy. It can beeasily disassembled after use, and thus is reusable
through assembly and disassembly.

When these foamed sheets used in packaging
and wrapping are disposed of in landfills, they
are completely broken down by the action ofmicroorganisms in approximately one year. We
have developed an environment-friendly foaming
process based on our proprietary technology.

Vegetation Net for Civil Engineering Work" F-MAC SHEET "This is a vegetation net for civil engineering work
using ECO material. It comprises "TERRAMAC™"
of YUNITIKA LTD. and a sheet that contains seed
and fertilizer. TERRAMAC is a poly-lactic-acid fiber
made from vegetable resources of corn and the likethrough a chemical synthesis process based on
lactic fermentation.

2Toward Reduction of Environmental Impact
We are developing products that do not create environmental problems when they are used, but further, they
do not emit toxic by-products when they are eventually disposed of by incineration or in landfills, thus reducing
environmental impact.

ECO Electrical Wire

Lead-Free Electrical Wire

These wires and cables use no halogens such as PVC,
permitting ease of disposal by incineration. ECO-ACE
general cables for indoor use, ECO-BEAMEX wires forelectrical appliances and power cords together with highly
flame-retardant optical cables are already in practical use.

No lead compounds are used as stabilizer
for the insulation resin, eliminating
concern about lead pollution when
disposed of in landfills. They are alreadyin use for automotive wire.

Lead-Free Plating for Electronic Components
ECO-BEAMEXECO-ACE

Lead-free plating for the leads of ICs, capacitors, connectors, printed circuit boards,
etc. has been achieved by using a tin-bismuth alloy instead of the tin-lead material
used previously, so that elimination of lead from customers' mounting process canbe much improved.

Environment-Friendly Indoor Cable-Protection Conduit
Made of Flame-Retardant Resin " ECO-PLAFLEKY "Since these cable conduits contain no halogen-based
flame-retarding agents, they do not emit dioxins nor
halogenous gases when combusted, permitting
easy recycling.

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Environment-Friendly Products and Recycling Technology

3

Toward Prevention of Ozone Layer Depletion
We are developing devices and processes that do not use CFCs, together with products adapted to CFC
substitutes.

CFC-Substitute Compatible
Magnet Wire " HPWR II "Copper Tube for Use with CFC-Substitutes" FMGT " , " Furukawa SuperClean Tube "These heat- and refrigerantresistant windings are now in
use in the compressor motors of
air-conditioning and refrigerating
systems using CFC-substituterefrigerants (HFC-407C, R410A,R134a).

These are heat exchanger copper tubes for use with CFC-substituterefrigerants to reduce the ozone layer depletion. They have reduced
oil residuals in the tube's
inner surface and areinternally multi-grooved toimprove heat-exchanging
performance.

Nitrogen-Atmosphere Reflow Oven " SALAMANDER "This reflow oven carries out the reflow soldering processduring the mounting of electronic components in a nitrogenatmosphere. This eliminates the need to cleanse completed
circuit boards, obviating the use of CFCs.

4

Functional Resin-Coated Aluminum Sheet " FUSCOAT "These functional resin coated aluminum sheets provide enhanced
formability, corrosion resistance, scuff- and fingerprint-resistance,resistance to chemicals, electricalconductivity, ease of printing,and anti-bacterial and anti-moldproperties. They are also selflubricating, so that disposal of thelubricants and cleansers formerly
used in the stamping process iseliminated.

Toward Prevention of Global Warming
We are developing products that contribute to global warming prevention and energy conservation, such as
products with improved efficiency and lightweight as well as clean energy systems.

Solar Photovoltaic System

High-Reflectivity Foamed Sheet " MC-PET "This clean distributed power generating system
uses solar batteries to convert the sun's rays
directly into electricity.

Furukawa Electric is the first in the world to succeed in the commercial-scale
production and marketingof white sheets made ofextra-fine foamed polyethylene
terephthalate (PET). Bubble
diameter is so small that optical
performance is outstanding,with a total reflectivity of 99 %or more.

High-PerformanceHeat-Exchangers Material
Micro Heat-Pipe
Fu r u k a w a E l e c t r i c ' s m i c r oheat-pipe provide a solution to
the problems of heat-dissipationand cooling of electronicequipment, making possible
greater availability of computing
power along with energy
conservations.

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We have developed aluminumradiator and air-conditioner
materials for automotive
applications that are lighter inweight, promoting better fueleconomy and reducing CO 2emissions.

Environment-Friendly Products and Recycling Technology

Recycling Technology
Recycling System of Electric Wire and Cable
Recycling systems of used power cables and communication
cables from customers have been established, thus enabling
reuse of conductors mainly.
Recycled cables are disassembled and separated material
to material, and subsequently reused. Copper and aluminumfrom conductors are 100 % reused, while covering materials arereused as recycled plastics and fuel achieving a considerable
degree of reusability.
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National Project for the Development ofRecycling Technology
As a member of the electrical wire and cable industry as wellas the light metal rolled products industry, Furukawa Electric
participates in the national projects, thereby promoting thedevelopment of recycling technologies in terms of electric wire
sheathing material and aluminum, respectively. With respect
to the recycling technology of sheathing material for electricwire, thermal recycling through the development of liquefaction
and pulverization was studied, under the aegis of the Ministryof International Trade and Industry (currently the Ministry ofEconomy, Trade and Industry), jointly by the Japan Electric
Cable Technology Center (JECTEC) and cable manufacturers.
Material recycling technology for cross-linked polyethylene wasalso developed under the aegis of the New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
With respect to aluminum, funding from NEDO made it
possible for the Japan Research and Development Center forMetals (JRCM) and seven manufacturers of aluminum rolled
products to embark in 1993 on a 10-year project to develop
technology to promote aluminum recycling.
Furukawa Electric manufactures a broad range of products
and related technologies, from electrical wire and cable toelectronic parts and plastic and metallic materials, and we will
mobilize all of our expertise to advance solutions to problems of
the environment.

96751/全社環境保全活動 02.4.8 5:00 PM ページ 1

����年度

全社環境保全活動
中央環境管理委員会

スローガン

地域社会との協調 資源を大切に
地球環境を守る企業活動
1．基本方針環境マネジメントシステム（ISO14001）を全事業所に展開し、継続的改善の実施により全社の環境保全活動の向上を図る

2．重点目標・ISO14001認証取得

Environmental Communicative Activities

横浜研究所

小山事業所

滋賀事業所

日光事業所（製板工場）

・有機塩素系化合物使用全廃
小山事業所

日光事業所

蒲原事業所

横浜研究所

・産業廃棄物削減（１）95年度比40％削減（２）ゼロエミッション活動の取り組み開始

・省エネルギー活動推進（１）原単位前年度比１％減（２）管理標準のレベルアップと励行

・化学物質管理システム全事業所展開
・グリーン調達開始
・環境会計精度アップ・地域社会活動への積極的参加
古紙配合率100％再生紙を使用しています������

Environmental Education
Active commitment of all the employees is essential forenvironment preservation activities of a corporate to besuccessful. We carry out, therefore, a systematic education
program as shown below that is designed to be suitable for therole of each employee. The employees are also encouraged
to actively take part in the community-based environment
preservation activities so that they acquire a broad range of
information on environment preservation.

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Environmental Communicative Activities

Enlightenment and Publicity Activities

Alignment with Local Communities

Enlightenment Activities

In order to promote coexistence with local communities, we
actively participate in such festivities as ECO fair and industry fairthat are held under the sponsorship of local governments, and
we offer them occasions of free access to our playgrounds.
Furthermore, considering that coexistence with the local
communities is an important issue for enterprise, we include atheme of "active participation in the local communities' activities"
as one of the major targets of company-wide environment
preservation activities for fiscal 2002, thereby promoting suchactivities.

To raise the environment consciousness of the employees, wehave put up an environmental campaign poster at all the Works,
Laboratories and Branch Offices in succession to the last year.
The poster contains a slogan about environment preservation
activities, Basic Environmental Policy and major activity targets
for fiscal 2002.
In June, which is designated as the month of environment
preservation, the chairman of the Central Committee forEnvironment Control delivered a message to all the Works about
the significance of the month of environment preservation,offering encouragement of energetic activity. Each Works, inresponse to this message, carried out diversified activities suchas distribution of a leaflet informing the environment preservation
month, installation of notice boards, call for a catchphrase
concerning the environment, implementation of the 5S activity inand around the Works' premises together with a night patrol toconfirm environmental influences on the surrounding areas.

Publicity Activities
Furukawa Electric's Web-Site
Furukawa Electric presents the company's initiatives aboutthe environment in the form of "Environment Preservation
Initiative" (in Japanese) and "Environmental Actions" (inEnglish), in addition to this "Environment Report 2002" and otherenvironmental reports in PDF.

Free access to the playgrounds is offered (Hiratsuka Works)

Exhibitions
Major exhibitions for fiscal 2001 we participated in are as follows:
Exhibition

Environment-related exhibits

INTERNEPCON JAPAN

Nitrogen-atmosphere reflow oven (SALAMANDER)

Automotive Engineering
Exposition 2001

Environment-conscious products, Weight reduction
technology of wire harness for electric vehicles

Sign and Display Show

High-reflectivity foamed sheet (MC-PET)

Electrical Construction
Equipment and Material Fair

SEMICON Japan 2001
Motor Show

Information Box, C. C. Box, Weed barrier sheet,
Halogen-free electrical wire (ECO-ACE, ECO-BEAMEX,EM-EEF), Halogen-free insulating tape (Non-halo
F-CO), Splicing material for ECO material cables
UV-curable adhesive tape for semiconductor
manufacturing (Halogen-free UV tape)
Halogen-free electrical wire (ECO-ACE), State of charge
sensor (for engine idling suppression), Aluminumelectrical wire (for weight reduction and fuel efficiency
improvement)

SEMICON Japan 2001Electrical Construction Equipment andMaterial Fair

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Planter using recycled cable drum is exhibited at the Yawata
coastal area fair (Chiba Works)

Scavenging the street in peripheral areas (Yokohama R&DLaboratories)