S ocial Performance
Social Performance
Furukawa Electric defines “compliance” as “more than simply abiding by laws and regulations. Rather, compliance isbased on the values and ethics that the company and its
employees adhere to, as responsible members of society.”19

Social Contribution Activities
The Furukawa Electric Group is promoting social contribution activities as a member of society, through disaster
relief support and exchange with local communities.

Support and cooperation■ Relief Support for Earthquake off
Sumatra and Tsunami DisasterFor the great earthquake that occurred
off the Sumatra Island on December 26,
2004, Furukawa Electric, its domestic affiliated companies, affiliated companies inthe disaster-stricken countries and volunteers of employees called for donations,and they made a donation of about 15.
27 million yen to Japanese Red Cross
Society, the local Chamber of Commerceand Industry, and the Department ofIndustry and Trade that were all fully
engaged in relief activities in the disasterareas.

Cleaning in Local Communities■ The Furukawa Electric Group carries
out cleaning activities in local communities, including the areas surrounding
its respective business bases, and also
coastal areas and rivers.

 Area surrounding
the Nikko works

 Area surrounding
the Hiratsuka works

 Area surrounding the Ueda Plant of
Totoku ElectricCommunicating with the Community Letter of thanks from theJapanese Red Cross Society■ Relief Support for Chuetsu Earthquake in Niigata Prefecture
We made a donation of 3 million yen
to the Community Chest of Niigata Prefecture, for the Chuetsu Earthquake in Niigata
Prefecture which occurred on October 23,
2004.

■ Cooperation to Chiba Environmental Restoration Fund
Chiba Prefecture has created a “Chiba
Environmental Restoration Fund” andaims to have the best natural environment
in Japan, under the slogan of “Restore
nature in our hometown!” The Chiba
works of Furukawa Electric called for
donations for this “Chiba Environmental
Restoration Fund” from all its employees
in the works. The proceeds and part of the
profits gained from “Eco Fair Ichihara”,
which totaled 145,000 yen, were handed
over to the Chiba Prefecture Environment
Foundation.

■ Since fiscal 2002, the Chiba works
has actively participated in “Eco-Fair
Ichihara” held in the Ichihara Civic
Center, and promoted interaction withlocal elementary schools in various
ways.
■ The Hiratsuka works participated in an“Environmental Fair” hosted by City of
Hiratsuka, which aims to be an Eco City,
and also participated in a Forum forEnvironmental Symbiosis Corporationsin Hiratsuka*1, and introduced its environmental activities to the local community.
* “Forum for Environmental Symbiosis Corporations”
This Forum was formed by an appeal of theIndustrial Labor Administration Section of
Economy Department of the City of Hiratsukain 2000, consisting of corporations interested in
Hiratsuka. The main activities include exchanging information about the environment, conducting tours of environment-related facilities
and hosting an Environmental Fair.

■ The Nikko works opened its premises tothe public and hosted a “Nikko Waraku
Odori Dance”. A total of about 20,000
tourists and local people wearing the
Yukata participated in this dance, which
encircled the Waraku Pond located in
the works.

 Nikko Waraku Odori Dance■ The Nikko works and affiliated companies including Nippon Foil Mfg. invited
local elementary school pupils to a tourof the plant.

 Hiratsuka Environmental Fair

 Tour of the Nikko works by elementary school
pupils*) The Chiba Environmental Restoration Fund isestablished in the Chiba Prefecture Environment
Foundation, in order to promote the “Chiba
Environment Restoration Plan” which was formu-

20

S

ocial Performance

Human Resources, Safety, Health and Compliance
Furukawa Electric believes that its asset is “people”. We are working on creating a comfortable working environment for our employees.

Relations with Employees■ Furukawa Electric’s View on
the Relationship Between the
Company and its Employees
Furukawa Electric is striving to build
a sincere relationship with its employees, based on trust and responsibility. In
addition, through business and work, weare aiming to establish more constructive
relations in which the company and our
employees can enhance each others abilities and values.

■ Placement, Evaluation and Job
Conditions
We are working to provide opportunities for placements and job assignments,emphasizing individual motivation andabilities based on the concept of equal
opportunity. As a part of this move, we are
implementing various interview systems
and providing opportunities for employees
to reflect on their career goals.
Regarding evaluation and incentives,
we have adopted an incentive program
for the fair evaluation and treatment of
our employees, according to their abilities
and performance. We are also working on
training managers to have performance
evaluation skills, in order to improve themanagement of the system and win thetrust of our employees.

■ Education and Training Systems
We believe that the strength of ourcompany lies in the synergy of the abilities of each employee at the work site andthat each employee’s ability is enhanced
in a practical way through everyday work.
Furukawa Electric provides a place forindividuals to grow through work, and provides opportunities to support a proactive
approach for the development of skills by
motivated employees. These opportunities include training, distance learning andsupport for acquiring qualifications.

■ Support System Corresponding
to Various Ways of Working
We respect our employee’s lifestyles
and have established various support systems that enrich each individual’s personal life.

Various Systems

Purpose / Content

Flexible Working
Hours

We adopt a system of ﬂexible working hours which enables employees to work efﬁciently according tobusiness demand. We support employees having ﬂexible working hours that suit their lifestyle.
Employees are able to take three consecutive days off once a year, and ﬁve consecutive days off every
ﬁve years, so that they can enjoy well-planned holidays and refresh their minds and bodies.
A maximum of 10 days out of the remaining regular annual holidays can be carried forward to the accumulated holidays (effective for ﬁve years).
Any employee who has a child under one and half years of age can take maternity or paternity leave fora duration of their choice, until their child is one and a half years old.
In cases where an employee’s spouse, child or parents (including the spouse’s parents) need nursing
care, that employee is able to take nursing care leave for up to one year, if certain conditions are fulﬁlled.
For union members who reach a certain age, labor and management jointly provide Retirement Seminars, with the aim of enhancing their current lifestyle and supporting their lifestyle after retirement.

Refresh Holiday
Holiday
Accumulation
Maternity andPaternity Leave
Nursing Care
Leave
Retirement
Seminar

Safety■ Company-wide Priority Safety
Activities■ Occupational Safety and HealthManagement System

Activities are carried out by focusing
on the company-wide priority safety activities, which are decided according to the
Safety Control Guidelines issued in fiscal
2004.

The Chiba works made an introductorydeclaration to establish this system and isproceeding with setting up the basis of thissystem and educating users about it, setting fiscal 2004 as a preparatory period.

1. “Improvement of compliance management system of dangerous and hazardous work”
We investigated the level of standardization that has been achieved by operation chiefs, and the daily
management system of dangerous and hazardous work according to laws and regulations, and quantitatively evaluated the management status at each works, each division and each department to clarify
the items that need to be corrected.
We will improve the system by continuously carrying out these activities.

2. “Recheck of safe passage and safe transportation rules and improvement of forklift
truck driving skills”
Forklift truck accidents and near-miss accidents continue to occur. We held a company-wide forklift
truck driving competition for the first time, as a centerpiece for reestablishing walking and driving safety
in the works. We held an all-encompassing company-wide competition which included our suppliers,
with the aim of re-educating drivers about basic driving skills, which they learned when they obtained
their driving licenses, and also with the aim of helping supervisors to recheck the driving skills that are
required by laws and regulations, and raise awareness of the need for daily checks, bearing in mind thatsupervisors do not necessarily have a forklift truck driving license themselves.

■ Safety Education
Focusing on standardization activities, we are promoting the standardization of C-ranked specifications of facility safety design standards in conformity with ISO12100
and company-wide education about work standards. In
particular, process analysis is important to properly establish work standards for irregular tasks in which there is ahigh occurrence of accidents. We are working on these
activities, and changing our conventional mindset.

■ Number of accidents that led to cessation ofwork(No. of cases)
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

1995

1996

1997

1998

21

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

From “News from Chiba
Standards Association”
Mr. Eto, Senior Vice Minister of
Health, Labor and Welfare, paida visit to the Chiba works andobserved the actual situation of
the safety and health management. He observed the copper
wire rod manufacturing site andthe optical fiber amplifier manufacturing site.

Health■ Mental Health Care
Furukawa Electric has been promoting
company-wide mental health measuressince 2002, in line with “Guidelines for
Mental Health in the Work Place” published by the Ministry of Health, Laborand Welfare (former Ministry of Labor).
In fiscal 2004, managers and supervisors
trained general employees with the aimof sharing accurate knowledge about
mental health among all our employees.
In fiscal 2005, we are targeting managers
with an advanced course, incorporatingcase studies, to help them acquire skills
in practical response for preventing andresponding quickly to any mental healthproblems.

■ Health Care for Employees thatWork Long Hours

lems of employees who work long hours
at each of our works.

Based on the guidelines issued by
the Labor Standards Bureau “Measures
employers should take to prevent healthproblems caused by overwork,” weare committed to the health care of ouremployees that work long hours by placing strict restrictions on the time theywork, based on the results of a medical
examination, and using a consultation
system which involves a medical officer
and the employee who works long hours.
Furthermore, in fiscal 2005, we will raise
health awareness by holding a training
session for managers and supervisors,concerning the prevention of health prob-■ Promoting separate smoking
areas
We set up more than 70 smoking
rooms during fiscal 2004 to promote
separate smoking areas, in line with the“Guidelines for Smoking Measures in
the Workplace”, a notification issued by
the Director-General of Labor Standards
Bureau in 2003. We will continue to positively promote the prevention of passive
smoking.

Compliance
The Furukawa Electric Group carries
out the following activities to promotecompliance.
We define “compliance” as “morethan simply abiding by laws and regulations. Rather, compliance is based on thevalues and ethics that the company andits employees adhere to, as responsible
members of society.”
I Establishment of the Furukawa ElectricGroup Action Guidelines and ensuring company officials and employees
adhere to this philosophy
II Setting up a Compliance Committee
We have set up a “Compliance Committee” to promote and strengthen thecompliance system at Furukawa Electricand its affiliated companies at home andabroad.

Contents of Concrete Activities of
the Committee● Awareness and education concerningcompliance● Grasp and analysis of risk statusconcerning compliance, internally at
Furukawa Electric and in the Group● Reporting the management status of
the compliance system at a management conference

Furukawa Electric Group Action Guidelines
We, company officials and employees of the Furukawa Electric Group, will:

1. Abide by the laws and regulations in Japan and abroad, and act in conformity with internal rules and external rules such as social codes and ethics;
2. Properly display and adequately disclose corporate information, including
financial statements;
3. Deal with antisocial groups in a resolute manner;
4. Aim to be a company that is useful to society by developing products that
aid the development of society and by providing reliable products and services;
5. Try to act with consideration for the protection of the global environment;
6. Respect human rights, cultures and traditions as a member of the international community;
7. Create a company in which employees can feel a sense of reward, easeand fulfillment; and8. Maintain and develop sound and good relations with all stakeholders.

I will further establish the traditions of Furukawa Electric.
The Compliance Committee’s office is set up in the Legal
Department. The successive management of Furukawa Electricstates that we should “conduct correct management fairly andsquarely” as one of our policies, and you could say that the spiritof compliance is one of our traditions. I am determined to let
this inherited tradition permeate further, among all the company
officials and employees of the Furukawa Electric Group, throughthe activities of the Committee.

Nozomu Amano
General Manager ofLegal Department

22

S

ocial Performance

Environmental Education and Enlightenment Activities
This section introduces environmental education and enlightenment activities for employees of Furukawa Electric.

In order to improve the environmental
awareness of our employees, we put up
an environmental campaign poster every
year in each work place. These posters
contain a slogan for environmental preservation activities, a Basic Environmental
Policy and major activity targets for the fiscal year. In June, which is designated as
the month of environmental preservation,
the chairman of the Central Committee
for Environment Management delivers amessage to all the employees. In addition, each works carries out activities suchas distributing leaflets that inform theemployees about the environmental preservation month, installing notice boards,
calling for a catchphrase concerning theenvironment, implementing the 5S activities in and around the Facilities’ premises
and conducting night-time patrols.

■ Environmental Seminar for
Executives
In order to further promote awarenessamong managers about environmental
activities, we held a second seminar for
managers of consolidated companies,
following on from last year. We invited
university professors and managers of theenvironmental divisions of Japan’s leading companies, who are experts in environmental issues, as speakers.
We held a lecture entitled “CSR Required: Its Management Issues” and“Environmental Management andInitiatives of Green Procurement at NTT” in
September 2004. A total of 87 top officials,

sessions relating to specific work.

■ Support for Education for
Affiliated Companies
We provided education sessions relating to environmental problems in general,and environment-related laws and regulations, for executives and managers ofaffiliated companies at their request.

■ Level-up Seminar for Internal
Auditors
including the President, executive directors, members of the Central Committee
for Environmental Management and personnel in charge of environmental management at Facilities of Furukawa Electric,
and presidents and other managers ofaffiliated companies participated in thislecture.

■ Environment-related Education
We conducted education sessions forour new employees, and the employees
of our administrative divisions and engineering divisions in their second year of
employment (a total of 77 people), about
environmental problems in general. In
addition, at each works and workplace,
we conducted as necessary a generalenvironmental education session at thetime when employees are assigned to adivision, and conducted special education

Following the revision of ISO14001
Standards, we held a seminar relating tothis revision. A total of 18 internal auditors
centering on the EMS Office attended thisseminar from each of the works.

■ Education Session for Training
Internal Auditors
We held a seminar for training internal environmental auditors six times, andtrained a total of 95 internal auditors,
including 54 from Furukawa Electric and
41 from its affiliated companies.

Attending a seminar for internal environmental auditors
I was given a chance to attend aseminar for internal environmental
auditors. A total of 13 employees
participated in the seminar this time,
and the lecturer was from the Safety,
Environment & Quality Promotion
Dept. of the Head Office. On the firstday of the seminar, there was a lecture
and an exercise on the environmental
management system and related laws
and regulations. On the second day,participants were divided into groupsof four or five people, and each group
reviewed the lecture and exercise that
had been given on the previous day, theyexamined a document, and simulated an
audit of the site. The seminar was a twoday course, although in the past the same
seminar had been a three-day course.
I felt that the seminar was pressed for23time and that the lecture proceeded alittle too fast. Everybody was surprised
when the lecturer said to us “You are aninternal environmental auditor from today.
You will attend the internal environmental
audit at the end of the year.” Although
the seminar was completed, I was not at
all confident about practicing audit work
immediately. Thus, I may participate in theinternal environmental audit this time andconsider it as “on-the-job training.” I may
cause trouble to the people concerned
and I would ask for their advice andguidance.

Teruko Kikui

Design & Engineering Section,
Plant Engineering Department,at Nikko works

Environmental Performance of the Works
The works of Furukawa Electric engage in activities to harmonize with the local community as a good corporate
citizen.

Chiba Works

Continues to be a leader in environmental
preservation

Located almost in the center of the
Keiyo Seaboard Industrial Area, one of
the leading petrochemical industrial zones
in Japan, the Chiba works is engaged
mainly in manufacturing of wire materials,
power cables (currently manufactured
by VISCAS), communication cables, andalso develops and manufactures largecapacity communication equipment.
The Chiba works has taken the leadrole in environmental preservation activities at Furukawa Electric by acquiring
ISO14001 in 1998, ahead of our otherworks. Something that is especially noteworthy this time is zero emission (landfill
waste of 1% or less) which we have been
striving for, for four years. Our steadyefforts have borne fruit and we expect toachieve zero emission during fiscal 2006.
Waste is a resource - we have thoroughly sorted the waste at sites in ourworks under this principle. Now there isa high environmental awareness shared
among our employees, to the degree
that a work site can suggest the possible recycling of items to the EMS Office.
These activities have grown to such an
extent that recycling activities have turneda profit. In fiscal 2004, the profit made on
the sale of items for recycling exceeded
our waste disposal costs, surpassing the
break-even point. This is an outstanding Coastal Area Festival

 Ecology Fairachievement for an electric wire-related
business.
On the other hand, we have also continued to promote exemplary activities,
in terms of active participation in thelocal community. We aim to become aworks that acquires a favorable reputation among local residents, by providingthem with wooden planters made fromcollected wooden drums, delivering at
no charge organic fertilizer made fromraw garbage from the company cafeteria,
and providing cooperation to the Chiba
Environmental Restoration Fund.
We will continue to play the lead rolein Furukawa Electric, based on individual
employee’s activities in line with compliance, not to mention the agreement
between the city, the prefecture and ourselves.

A

Toru Kumabe
Manager of Chiba Workslthough the core businesses of this works,
the telecommunication business andpower cable business, have been forced toengage in a hard-fought struggle amid a severe
economic environment for the last few years,
our environmental preservation activities haveyielded results in one form or another. When I
moved to this works from our Head Office lastyear, I was really surprised at the high awarenessfor environmental preservation.
A full seven years have passed this year since
the acquisition of ISO14001, and the production
system of the works has undergone a largechange, such as the inauguration of VISCAS
due to the alliance of the electric power business24

 Plant Tour

Chiba Works

Location: 6, Yawata Kaigandori, Ichihara-shi, Chiba
Lot area: 672,000 m2
Number of employees: 1,550 (as of April 2005)

at the beginning of the year. We will take thisopportunity to further step up our activities basedon our social responsibility.
Meanwhile, there was one thing thatdeserved special mention in fiscal 2004. The
income exceeded the expenses with respect toenvironmental preservation costs. This is a resultof our honest and steady efforts so far, and hasbrought a great sense of accomplishment to
all the employees of the works. Environmental
preservation costs are a big management issue
in promoting corporate activities. Not satisfied
with this result, we will set an even higher target
to lead the environmental preservation activitiesof the entire company.

S

ocial Performance

Environmental Performance of the Works

Osaka WorksThe Osaka works, which has a long
history as the mainstream works for
Furukawa Electric’s Metals Group, hasbeen manufacturing copper and copper
alloy products including copper tubes
used in heat exchangers for air conditioners.
The thermal conductivity of copper tubes, which are often used in heatexchangers, plays an important role in
improving the energy efficiency of air
conditioning systems. The Osaka works
continues to make improvements andcontribute to energy conservation, by
providing air conditioner manufacturers
with high-performance copper tubes.

Contribute to a sustainable society withtechnological innovation
ment results from our repeated andsteady efforts to improve the efficiencyof our energy consumption by modifying
facilities and reviewing the process flowat production sites, and setting the temperature for air conditioning at 28°C or
higher and turning off lights during officelunch breaks.
Furthermore, we have achieved excellent results in waste reduction. From fiscal 2000, when we acquired ISO14001, tofiscal 2004, we have reduced the amountof equipment lubricant and working fluids
used with 5S improvement activities, andin addition we have reduced the total
amount of waste by 60%, by recycling
paper garbage from offices.
Recently we have started positively
working on reusing discarded copper
tubes used in heat exchangers as a raw

material. We will continue to work to effectively use resources and reduce waste,with the aim of becoming an even moreenvironmentally friendly works.

 We received recognition for“Plant Excellence in Wastewater Control”
from the city of Amagasaki.

Osaka Works Cleaning activities around the works

The Osaka works has unified to workon energy conservation, and almost
achieved the target of reducing theamount of energy used by 1% over theprevious year, every year. This achieve-

 Enlightenment activities of energy
conservation

B

Shigefumi Chigusa
Manager of Osaka Works

roadly speaking, there are two issues
surrounding our environmental initiatives
at this works. One is to improve the energy
efficiency of customers’ products (air conditioners, for example) and to contribute to social
energy conservation by enhancing the efficiency
of copper tube products, which are manufactured
by us. Although copper tube products are said
to be approaching maturity, there are technicalissues which we believe can be improved. We
intend to continue to manufacture highly-efficient
products that help to achieve a sustainable
society.
Another issue is energy conservation andwaste reduction in the works. It is difficult to25

Location: 6, Doicho 7-chome, Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo
Lot area: 136,000 m2
Number of employees: 330 (as of June 2004)

produce improved results just by repeating
conventional methods. The targets for energy
conservation become larger every year. We aim
to continuously achieve these targets, by further
raising awareness of environmental preservation
among individual employees and devising newmeasures.

Yokohama R&D Laboratories
Yokohama R&D Laboratories aims to
improve the basic technologies that support other companies, as a key center ofour research and development activities,
as can be seen from the development of ahigh-power semiconductor laser for opticalfiber amplifiers (honored with the Okochi
Memorial Production Award), and at thesame time, is working on the research anddevelopment of leading-edge technologies
that will form the core of our next-generation businesses in the medium- to longterm.
We acquired ISO14001 certification in
2002. Unlike plants, we do not have a large
production line, but because we handlechemical substances and high-pressuregases, we have fully studied their control
methods. Priority items for fiscal 2004 are“research and development in consideration of the environment,” “strengtheningof chemical substance control and prevention of water pollution,” “effective utilization

 Cleaning activities

Pursues environmental preservation
truly for people

 Soccer class in the grounds of our laboratories

of resources and reducing and recycling
waste” and “promotion of energy conservation activities.” Among different types ofresearch and development, in consideration of the environment we have workedon the introduction and operation of DfE,
the technical development of lead-free solder and the development of analysis technology in consideration of the environment.
With regard to analysis technology, we
make precise measurements to evaluate the presence or absence of minuteamounts of substances that will impact
on the environment in the products of
Furukawa Electric and affiliated companies,
utilizing know-how and analysis technology which has been accumulated at theAnalysis Technology Center of our laboratories. We contribute to our green procurement and product development through thedevelopment and establishment of suchanalysis technology.

I

Kazunori Nakamura
Manager of Yokohama R&D
Laboratories

frankly feel that awareness of the environmenthas become rooted in every single employee.
This is because, although we do not havelarge lines unlike plants, every single employee
controls chemical substances and the like,during their research and development work.
Routine consideration to the environment ofeach employee leads to effective utilization of
resources and the reduction and recycling ofwaste.
Our laboratories are located in a residentiala r e a o f Yo k o h a m a , a n d a t t h e v e r y l e a s t ,an environmental issue is not to causeinconvenience to the local residents. We havenever received any complaints from them so far,26

We will continue to promote researchand development activities, with anincreased awareness for the environmental
preservation that is essential for the creation of new products and new businesses,with an eye towards the next generation.

Yokohama R&D Laboratories

Location: 4-3, Okano 2-chome, Nishi-ku, Yokohamashi, Kanagawa
Lot area: 19,881 m2
Number of employees: 300 (as of April 2005)

but we will try to give more friendly consideration
to the local environment, by completely eliminating any abnormalities in the wastewaterproduced by our research.
There is a recreational ground on the premiseof our laboratories, and it is used by the local
residents for soccer classes and the Bon festival
dance. We have upgraded the toilets in therecreational ground so that the local residents are
not inconvenienced when they need to use them.
We will work on environmental problems without
neglecting our friendly consideration for people.

S

ocial Performance

Environmental Performance of Affiliated Companies
This section introduces the environmental preservation activities of the affiliated companies of Furukawa Electric.

Access Cable Company
History
The Access Cable was establishedthrough the merger of the former Nishiura
Electric Wire Co., Ltd. and the former
Kyushu Okano Electric Wire Co., Ltd. in
April 2002. Our Head Office is located inTokyo, and we have factories in Hokuriku(Ishikawa Prefecture) and Kumamoto. Our
main business is manufacturing opticalfiber cables, indoor and outdoor wires,
LAN cables and coaxial cables.
We hope to satisfy our customers
through the development and manufacturing of products as well as to contributeto society, even if it is only slightly. We
are promoting our activities, while always
keeping harmonization with the environment in mind, and giving consideration toenvironmental preservation.

Environmental Preservation Activities
We set up an Environmental Committee
at each of our factories, making it ourbasic policy for promoting environmental
preservation activities that recognition ofprotecting the global environment as amanufacturer is the most important thingwith regard to our social responsibility asa corporation and that each employee
pledges to improve environmental preservation while putting emphasis on being
environmentally-friendly in addition to that
we contribute to achieving an affluent
society in which all the people can live
safely.
● The Kumamoto Factory acquired
ISO14001 in October 2000
● The Ho kur iku Fa c t o r y a c q u i r e d
ISO14001 in December 2004

Priority Items
 Reduction of electric power consumption
We introduce energy-saving facilities ina systematic way, to reduce greenhousegases, and carry out our activities withawareness of saving power in our daily
air conditioning, plant lighting and officeautomation equipment.

■ Reduction of Electric Power Consumption

Local Community Activities

250

(%)
Total electric power consumption
7
Reduced electric power consumption
6.4%
Reduction ratio
6

200

5

150

4

(10,000 kWh)
300

100

We participated in river cleaning activities hosted by the town.

3
2%

50

0.9%

0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2
1
2004 (Fiscal year)(Data of Kumamoto Factory) Reduction of waste
Aiming at reducing waste from factories and recycling 100% of our waste(zero landfill disposal), we have workedon the control of emissions, reusingmaterial, recycling material and thermal
recycling, in the order described.
● Since September 2001 PE has beensold as a valuable material to be recycled.
● Since October 2002 non-valuable plastic waste, except PVC, has been thermally recycled.
● Since October 2003 optical fiber cable
scraps have been sorted and thermallyrecycled.
● Since October 2004 plastic bobbins
and transparent PE bags have beensorted and the material has been recycled.
● Since October 2004 sorting standards
have been subdivided and plastic
waste has been thermally recycled.

■ Total Emission and Recycling Ratio of
Plastic Waste(tons)
120(%)

Total emission of plastic waste
Landfill quantity
Recycling ratio of plastic waste

100
80

72%

60

100
85% 80

80%

60

55%

40

40

25%

20

20
0

2000

2001

2002

2003

0
2004 (Fiscal year)(Data of Kumamoto Factory)■ Volume Handled and Emission of
Trichloroethylene(tons)
12
Volume handled
Emission

10
8
6
4
2
0

2001

2002

2003

2004 (Fiscal year)(Data of the Hokuriku Factory)

Access Cable Company

 Reduction of hazardous air pollutants
In June 2004 we completely stopped
the use of trichloroethylene as a fluid forwashing coaxial cable cores.

 Enlargement of green area
On the 30th an-niversary of the Kumamoto
Factory, all the employees planted trees.

Head Office: NF Kanda Building 4F, 1-8-9, Kanda-Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Hokuriku Factory: 19-3, Wakabadai, Shika-machi, Hakuigun, Ishikawa
Kumamoto Factory: Ouaza Sougawa 2001, Kosa-machi,
Kamimashiki-gun, Kumamoto
Number of employees: 113
Enquiries and further information
EMS Office, Kumamoto Factory
TEL:+81-96-234-1180 FAX:+81-96-234-1181

27

Asahi Electric Works Co., Ltd.
History
The Asahi Electric Works has been an
exclusive manufacturer that has played
an important role in power transmission
and distribution technology from its foundation in 1948, right up until the presentday. We are invigorated to take steps
forward toward future energy transportation and information transmission support technology, based on our technology which has been cultivated for over
50 years.

Environmental Preservation Activities
We are promoting preservation activities making it our basic policy that wehave an obligation to preserve the global environment and to protect our precious earth in order to pass it on to ourdescendants in a good condition and that
we will assume our social responsibility
as a corporation by contributing to theestablishment of a better environment
for people, society and the earth. We
acquired ISO14001 in February 2003.
When ISO14001: 2004 was published,
we quickly responded to it and had aTransition Audit in February 2005, switching to the 2004 version. Taking this opportunity, we will work on our activities withfresh spirits.

Environmental Policy Item
1. Promotion of energy saving to prevent global warming
2. Reduction of the amount of environmental impact substances used(complete elimination of trichloroethylene)
3. Reduction and recycling of waste
4. Development of products that reducethe impact on the environment
Of the above, which are set as priority
items, number 2, the “complete elimination of trichloroethylene” was achieved
one year earlier than we had planned,
and our activities for eliminating it are
introduced below.

Reduction of Amount of Environmental
Impact Substances Used

■Change in Annual Amount of
Trichloroethylene Used

(Complete elimination of trichloroethylene)

(kg)
2500

Trichloroethylene is said to be a carcinogenic and a pollutant of groundwater, and its use has been regarded as aproblem. We used a combined amountof 1,700 kg to 2,000 kg at the Nagai andKumamoto plants each year for cleaningmachined parts and as a solvent for a surface treatment agent for processed electric parts. The staff in charge of engineering and manufacturing started promoting activities in fiscal 2002 to completely
eliminate the use of trichloroethylene.
The trichloroethylene that was used
for cleaning purposes was eliminated bychanging cutting oil to a water-soluble
agent, thereby eliminating the need forcleaning altogether. However, we hadgreat difficulty in selecting a substitute fortrichloroethylene as a solvent for surface
treatment, because there were two kindsof products (aluminum and copper) tobe surface treated, and we had to selectsubstitutes that were suitable for both ofthese materials. There were more thanten kinds of potential replacement candidates, and we spent a considerable
amount of time and labor on this problem, but our efforts were rewarded withsuccess when we found a suitable chemical. The trial product passed the required
quality level in the performance test, andthe safety data sheet confirmed it had no
impact on the environment, and so we
could eliminate the use of trichloroethylene at the Nagai plant in August 2004.
Then, we extended this approach to the
Kumamoto plant and in November 2004
at last we achieved complete elimination.
We had to deliberate carefully, because
we needed to select a substitute without impairing the quality of our products,
and we are proud to say the enthusiastic
initiatives of the staff concerned brought
about the success.

Kumamoto Plant
Nagai Plant

2000
1500
1000
500
0

2001

2002

2003

2004 (Fiscal year)

Nagai Plant: Achieved complete elimination in
August 2004
Kumamoto Plant: Achieved complete elimination in November 2004

Future Activities
A thinner used by some of our products as a degreaser contains toluene,
an environmental impact substance. We
will work to reduce the amount of thinnerused in the future.

Asahi Electric Works Co., Ltd.

Head Office: 2-11-16, Azamino-Minami, Aoba-ku,
Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa
Nagai Plant: 1812, Imaizumi-Yamada, Nagai-shi,
Yamagata
Kumamoto Plant: 556, Kyokushifumoto, Kikuchi-shi,
Kumamoto
Nikko Plant: 500, Kiyotaki-machi, Nikko-shi, Tochigi
Number of employees: 220
Enquiries and further information
Quality and Environment Group, Head Office
TEL:+81-45-910-2800 FAX:+81-45-910-2809

28

S

ocial Performance

Environmental Performance of Affiliated Companies
Furukawa Logistics Corporation
History
Furukawa Logistics was establishedin October 1980, having been separated
from the logistics section of Furukawa
Electric, as a trucking, packing and packaging, and warehousing business.
Then, we were entrusted with all theworks and nationwide distribution centers of Furukawa Electric and the worksof Furukawa-Sky. In 2000, we established the Oyama Distribution Center,and in 2003 we set up offices in China(Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin).
Our business covers a wide range ofareas, including logistics-related businesses such as transportation, customs
brokerage, warehousing businesses andlogistics consultancies, and general worker dispatch businesses.

Environmental Preservation Activities
We have formulated our quality andenvironmental policy to achieve, througheconomic activities of logistics, “an affluent society in which people in the world
understand each other and make full useof humanity, individuality and creativity”
as defined in our management policy,
and promoted environmental preservation activities.
We acquired ISO14001 certification
at 14 bases of our Branch Offices andCenters nationwide including the Head
Office in June 2002, aiming at becoming an environmentally friendly logistics
company.

of these drums, in order to produce new
drums. When there were materials that
had to be discarded, various ideas weregenerated including using them as litter for horses (at our Sapporo Center)or using them as boards by reducing tochips (at another center).

■ Landfill and Incineration Disposal(tons)
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

First half of fiscal 2001(%)
Quantity of landfill and incineration disposal
100
Reduction ratio
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2002
2003
2004 (Fiscal year) Deployment of support activities for GreenManagement Certification acquisition
We began to encourage transportationand delivery companies to acquire GreenManagement Certification and help themain special delivery transportation companies acquire this certification. We will
start with the Chiba Branch Office in fiscal
2004 and expand our support throughout
the country.
We held an Eco-Drive seminar because one of
the criteria for Green Management Certification is
the practice of eco-drive techniques. We obtainedcooperation from a truck manufacturer and held theseminar at the Chiba Branch Office and the Kanto
Distribution Center in September 2004 and March
2005. The participating drivers of trucking companies
learned “low fuel consumption driving techniques(eco-drive).”

We are going to have a combined audit of ISO14001:
2004 and ISO9001: 2000 in May 2005.

Environmental Preservation Activities(Fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2004)

 Eco-Drive Seminar Reduction of NOx per ton · kilometer from vehicles
The NOx emission from trucks, ourmain means of transportation, wasreduced by 6% over the first half of fiscal 2001 per product transportation
ton·kilometer.

 Reduction of the quantity of landfill andincineration disposal
The landfill and incineration quantity of waste was reduced by 84% overthe first half of fiscal 2001. Activities thatlargely contributed to the reduction were
the recycling and repairing of collectedwooden drums for electric wires, for theirreuse, as well as collecting and reassembling materials after the disassembly*Eco-Drive in Trucks
Driving technique for fuel saving
 Gradual starting acceleration  Use of upper gearfor improved fuel economy  Maintaining a constant speed  Engine speed within the green zone
 Unsteady driving is an enemy of fuel economy
 Using an engine brake  Refraining from speeding  Short periods of idling  No strong idling
Provided by Hino Motors, Ltd.

 Reduction of Electric Power Consumption
We promoted company-wide energy
saving activities, targeting at a reductionof electric power consumption. Electric
power is mainly used for lighting in our
offices and work areas, and outdoor lighting. It was reduced by 16% over the firsthalf of fiscal 2001.

 Reduction of Purchased Amount of Office Paper
We worked on reducing the purchasedamount of office paper, by using the backside of used paper, as an initial environmental activity, with the aim of raising company-wide awareness, and we
reduced the amount by 31% over the firsthalf of fiscal 2001.

Future Activities
We plan to carry out the following
activities from fiscal 2005.
1. Reducing the number of accidents
2. Reducing electric power consumption
3. Reducing NOx per ton·kilometer fromvehicles
4. Reducing the quantity of landfill andincineration disposal
5. Deploying support activities to acquire
Green Management Certification
6. Preparation of ton·kilometer data to beprovided to consignors, with respect
to the revision of the Rationalization in
Energy Use Law, to take effect in 2006
7. Participation in environmental preservation activities in cooperation withmunicipalities

Furukawa Logistics Corporation

 4-ton Unic truck used for driving
at Eco-Drive seminar
Effect of Eco-Drive
Average speed
Fuel consumption

Before seminar After seminar
23.5 km/h
22.3 km/h
4.26 km/5.59 km/

CO2 Emission

When 4,000 liters of fuel is used per month:
Conventional driving / 4,000 liters / Emission of about
10.5 tons of CO2
After fuel saving / 3,053 liters / Emission of about 8.0 tonsof CO2
It is possible to reduce the emission of CO2 by about 2.5
tons per month.

29

Head Office: Furukawa Electric Kanda Building 6F, 16-8,
Uchikanda 2-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Number of employees: 239 (as of the end of March 2004)
Enquiries and further information
ISO Office, Quality Assurance Dept.
TEL:+81-436-42-9311 FAX:+81-436-42-9350