E nvironmental Performance
Environmental Performance
Furukawa Electric and its group have had a long lasting involvement in the proactive recycling of copper andaluminum, and the recovery and reuse of plastics, while
focusing on developing environmentally friendly products.
We are working hard to preserve the global environmentand conserve its resources.

5

Targets and Performance of Environmental Management
Furukawa Electric has set target standards to be reached by fiscal 2005 for each activity in the Medium-Term Planfor Environmental Preservation Activities 2005, and has promoted these activities since fiscal 2003. In addition,
Furukawa Electric and its group have set common activity targets for consolidated environmental management
to promote these activities. These targets are broken down into targets for each fiscal year, and linked to concrete action items. We plan to formulate the next medium-term targets for fiscal 2009 at the end of fiscal 2005.

Performance in Fiscal 2004
Furukawa Electric set the annual target of “Priority Environmental
Preservation Activity Targets for
Fiscal 2004”, and these targets were
deployed in the objective, targets andprograms under the environmental
management system for the individual business bases, to promotethese activities. Our affiliated companies also set their unique targets
with respect to the common activity
targets of the consolidated environmental management and promoted
their activities.

■ Priority Environmental Preservation Activity Performance in Fiscal 2004
Item

TargetPerformance

40% reduction compared to ﬁscal
Reduction of industrial waste
58% reduction
2000
50% reduction compared to ﬁscal
Zero-emission activities
83% reduction
2000
Achieving the same emissions as the
Reduction of greenhouse gases
222,000 tons or a reduction of 2%previous ﬁscal year (227,000 tons)
Energy intensity per unit product: 1% 9% reduction compared to ﬁscal 1999
Energy-conservation activities reduction compared to the previous A 3 percentage point increase comparedﬁscal year
to the previous ﬁscal year
Reduction of chemical efﬂuents 52% reduction over ﬁscal 2000
46% reduction
Promotion of procurement of 23
Grasping the procurement ratio for applicable supplies
Promotion of procuring green general commodity items
products and supplies
Investigating 100% of the products
Investigated 79% of the vendors
purchased from major vendors
Information exchange including meetings
Reinforcement of consolidated Policy formulation and invigoration of and visits
environmental management
group activities
Holding of environmental seminars
Eco-design activities
Modeling toward introduction of LCA Collection of basic data

Evaluation










: Comfortably achieved, : Achieved, : Slightly underachieved, ×: Underachieved

Targets in Fiscal 2005
Fiscal 2005 is the final year of the Medium-Term Plan forEnvironmental Preservation Activities 2005 and the common
targets of Consolidated Environmental Management, andtherefore the items and targets have been made consistent

with those of the medium-term targets. Individual businessbases and individual companies will adopt these targets intheir respective environmental management activities andplan to promote their own activities.

Targets of Furukawa Electric

Targets of Consolidated Environmental Management■ Reduction of industrial waste■ Zero-emission activities

50% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000
60% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000

■ ISO14001 certiﬁcationacquisition■ Reduction of greenhouse gases

Reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions:
Achieving the performance of the previous ﬁscal year
Energy intensity per unit product:
1% reduction compared to the previous
ﬁscal year

■ Reduction of industrial
waste
Reduction of industrial waste
Zero-emission activities(direct landﬁll quantity)■ Energy-conservation activities■ Reduction of greenhousegases
CO2 emission
Use of HFC and PFC
Emission of SF6 into theatmosphere■ Reduction of chemical efﬂuents 54% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000
(targeted substances: Toluene, Xylene, Ethyl benzene)■ Promotion of procuring green
products

Procurement ratio for 23 general supplies including ofﬁce supplies / 100%

■ Eco-design activities

Modeling toward introduction of LCA■ Promotion of consolidated environmental management

Policy formulation and invigoration ofgroup activities

Certiﬁcation acquisition by all thecompanies

30% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000
50% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000

5% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000
Complete elimination
50% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000

50% reduction compared to ﬁscal 2000
■ Reduction of chemical efﬂuents(targeted substances: hazardous organic chlorine compounds)

6

E

nvironmental Performance

Environmental Management Activities
At Furukawa Electric, the Director in charge ■ Organization Chart for Company-Wide Environmental Managementof the environment acts as the Chairman ofPresident
the Central Committee for Environmental
Committee for Company-Wide Promotion ofManagement, which has been set up to promote
Energy Conservation
environmental preservation activities for the entire
Central Committee forcompany. In addition, Furukawa Electric is proEnvironmental Management
Committee for Development ofmoting the Group’s environmental preservation
Environmentally-Friendly Products
activities in conjunction with its affiliated comSafety, Environment and Quality Promotion Dept.
panies at the Liaison Meeting for Consolidated
Environmental Management. We have been trying to acquire certification, since schemes basedon ISO14001 would be very
Committee for Greeneffective for carrying out enviProduct Management
Environment Committee of Works
Divisional Environment Committeeronmental preservation activities at the individual business
Environmental Personnel Meetingbases of Furukawa Electric andExpert Committee
its affiliated companies.
Liaison Meeting for Consolidated
Energy Conservation Committee,
Environmental Management

Industrial Waste Committee■ ISO14001 Certification at Furukawa Electric
Works

Date of Acquisition Certifying Organization

Certiﬁcation Number

Chiba

June 18, 1998

DNV

1208-1998-AE-KOB-RvA

Mie

November 24, 1998

JACO

EC98J1097

Hiratsuka

September 1, 2000

DNV

1699-2000-AE-KOB-RvA

Osaka

December 19, 2000

DNV

1114-2000-AE-KOB-RvA

Nikko

March 14, 2002

DNV

1851-2002-AE-KOB-RvA/JAB

Yokohama

June 14, 2002

DNV

1849-2002-AE-KOB-RvA

Furukawa Electric has acquired ISO14001 certification at all its works.
In the affiliated companies, NTEC and Miharu
Communications newly acquired the certification in
fiscal 2004, meaning that 95% of the affiliated companies have acquired the certification. The remaining
two companies of Sunsunny Industry and Furukawa
Precision Engineering plan to acquire the certification during fiscal 2005.

■ List of Companies Participating in the Liaison Meeting for Consolidated Environmental Management
Company Name

ISO14001

Environmental
Accounting

Company Name

ISO14001

Environmental
Accounting

Access Cable Company



Furukawa Infonet Products Co., Ltd.



Asahi Electric Works Co., Ltd.

FITEC CorporationInoue Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

The Furukawa Electric Engineering Service Co., Ltd.

NTEC Ltd.

Furukawa Automotive Parts Inc.



F-CO Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Circuit Foil Co., Ltd.

FCM Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd.

Okano Electric Wire Co., Ltd.

Broad Wireless Corporation



Okumura Metals Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Industrial Plastics Co., Ltd.

The Kyushu Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Precision Engineering Co., Ltd.



Kyowa Electric Wire Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Engineering & Construction Inc.



Sunsunny Industry Co., Ltd.

The Furukawa Battery Co., Ltd.



Shodensha Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Logistics Corporation



Seiwa Giken Inc.



Furukawa Techno Material Co., Ltd.



Totoku Electric Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Life Service Inc.

T. H. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.



Miharu Communications Inc.



Nikkei Kakoh Co., Ltd.



Yamada Keikinzoku Co., Ltd.

Nippon Foil Mfg. Co., Ltd.



Riken Electric Wire Co., Ltd.



Higashi Nihon Tanzou Co., Ltd.

Furukawa-Sky Aluminum Corporation



Furukawa Electric Industrial Cable Co., Ltd.



Zaikoo Co., Ltd.









ISO14001……: Already acquired certification, :Planning to acquire certification during fiscal 2005
Environmental accounting……: Implements environmental accounting described in this paper7Impact on the Environment by Furukawa Electric
Furukawa Electric provides products by producing a variety of parts and raw materials, and by using energy,
including water and electric power, and chemical substances. We are working on reducing the adverse impact
on the environment produced by these activities.

Impact on the environment by the six production base works

INPUT

OUTPUT

Raw materials

Emissions into the atmosphere

Copper188,000 t

Energy (*1)

140,000 k

Water

16.7 million t

Chemical substances (*2)

5,976 tCO2

222,000 t — CO2

NOx

159 t

SOx

12 t

Soot

10 t

Wastewater(*1) Amount of electric power, fuel oil and fuel gas used(*2) PRTR targeted substances(*3) Outsourced industrial waste disposal, excluding recycled materials

16.4 million t

Waste
Industrial waste (*3)

3,816 tRecycled materials

16,894 t

Chemical substances (*2)
Emitted volume

202 tTransferred volume

328 t

Impact on the environment by non-production bases
Furukawa Electric has grasped the impact on the environment caused by the non-production bases of its Head Office and three
Branch Offices.
The non-production bases of our Head Office and Branch
Amount of electric power
1,150,602 kWh
Offices are promoting power savings and resources savings.
As power saving measures, lights in rooms such as unused
Amount of water used
382 m3conference rooms are turned off and air conditioning units are
set at an appropriate temperature.
Amount of paper used
As resources saving measures, we promote the sorting ofwaste and the reuse of photocopier paper and files.

Photocopier paper

20,947 kg

Newspaper

3,740 kg8

Environmental PerformanceZero-Emission Activities
The Furukawa Electric Group began activities to reduce outsourced industrial waste disposal in 1993, and has
promoted zero-emission activities of waste since fiscal 2001. At the Furukawa Electric Group zero-emission
activities are defined as “activities to reduce the industrial waste commissioned to outsourced disposal that istransported from plants directly to landfill spots for final disposal.”

Performance in Fiscal 2004
Furukawa Electric

Affiliated companies

We reduced outsourced industrial waste
disposal by 58% compared to fiscal 2000,
attaining the fiscal target of a 40% reduction.
In addition, we reduced the volume of direct
land disposal by 83% compared to fiscal
2000, substantially exceeding the fiscal
target of a 50% reduction.

Our affiliated companies reduced theiroutsourced industrial waste disposal by
37% compared to fiscal 2000, and thevolume of direct landfill disposal by 11%
compared to fiscal 2000. They are further
promoting reduction activities towardachieving the target for fiscal 2005.

Companies that have attained
zero emissions
One more company has attained zero
emission in the Group, bringing the total to10.

Recycling of Waste Salt Byproduct Produced in the Optical Fiber Manufacturing Process
Chlorine contained in the feed gas isemitted as exhaust gas in the manufacturing process of optical fibers. When
this chlorine is removed by reacting itwith caustic soda water, and the resultant
wastewater is treated, a salt is formed asa byproduct. Conventionally, this salt wasdisposed of in landfill spots, but we have

Recycling of Plastic Waste
Until now, various kinds of plastics
were mixed in with the miscellaneous
goods that were discarded, and they were
not recycled.
We made rules for the sorting of thesegoods and we held study meetings andpatrolled garbage dumps to promotethorough sorting activities. For example,
we made it a rule to put items ranging
from safety shoes and hard hats to safety
goggles in transparent bags, so that theconstituent material of the contents canbe easily identified. As a result, it waspossible to protect this practice of sorting,which has enabled the recycling of waste.

managed to recycle it, by selling it tocompanies that use industrial-use salt asa raw material. Prior to this, we provided
samples to these companies, confirmed
its non-toxicity by testing it on animals
and checked that the aqueous solution
conforms to the effluent standard.

SiO2

HCl

Exhaust gas
Product(optical fibers) NaOH
Salt

Reduction of Waste Disposal Costs
Considering that environmental preservation activities directly contribute to
management, as a part of the Furukawa
Survival Plan, we adopted reduction ofwaste disposal costs as our activity target.
As a result of the conversion of waste,
which conventionally incurred disposal
costs for landfills, etc., into valuables forrecycling, we reduced disposal costs
by about 100 million yen, substantiallyexceeding our target of 50 million yen.

■ Waste Disposal Costs■ Outsourced Disposal of Industrial Waste■ Direct Landfill Disposal(tons)
30000(tons)
8000

Other affiliated companies
Furukawa-Sky
Furukawa Electric

25000
20000

9223

8316
10000
5000

0

7794
6763
5421

9131

2000

8274

2001

(million yen)
400

350

353

300
250

252

5496

187

150
100

75

50
0

2000

7000

4867

5282

5974

6018

3816

2002

2003

2004 (Fiscal year)

9

2001

2004 (Fiscal year)

1865
2944

2346

1997
1889

2492

3000

1560
3022

1000
0

2003

Other affiliated companies
Furukawa-Sky
Furukawa Electric

1587

6000

2000

2002

1394

4000
5777

238

200

5000

7442
15000

Patrol to monitor sorting

Feed gas of
SiCl4, H2 and O2

2000

2974

2001

1968
1812

1634

2002

2003

504
2004 (Fiscal year)

Prevention of Global Warming
The Kyoto Protocol took effect on February 16, 2005, and the reduction of targeted gases has become mandatory for the prevention of global warming. The Furukawa Electric Group has worked on energy conservation
activities since before the ratification by the Japanese Government, aiming at the prevention of global warming.

Performance in Fiscal 2004

Energy intensity per unit product(EIPUP) at Furukawa Electric

Furukawa Electric

Affiliated companies

Emissions of greenhouse gases (on a CO2
basis) were 222,000 tons, attaining thetarget of fiscal 2004 which was the sameas the result of the previous fiscal year
(227,000 tons). Emissions in fiscal 2004
were reduced by 21% compared to fiscal
2000.

Emissions of greenhouse gases increased
by 1% compared to fiscal 2000. Our
affiliated companies are further promoting
activities to reduce these emissions, aiming
for the fiscal 2005 target of a 5% reduction.

The energy consumption at the five
works* designated as “Class 1 Energy
Management Factories” was 127,000 k , areduction of 3,115 k . EIPUP was reduced
by 9% compared to fiscal 1999, attaining
the long-term target of a 5% reduction, but
it represented an increase of 3 percentage
points from the previous fiscal year.
* The five works are Chiba, Nikko, Hiratsuka,
Mie and Osaka

Energy Conservation Activities

Provision of LCA Data to Customers
The automotive manufacturers, which
are customers of Furukawa Electric, grasp
the impact on the environment of things
like CO2 emitted from vehicles, and utilize LCA (Life Cycle Assessment). At therequest of these automotive manufacturers, we calculate and provide the data on
the impact on the environment that occurs
during our manufacture of the parts which
are supplied to them. The automotive
manufacturers make an environmental
impact assessment of the entire life cycleof vehicles from this data, including ourdata, on the impact on the environment at
each stage of the manufacturing process,in order to develop vehicles that have a
reduced impact on the environment. In fiscal 2004, we calculated and provided dataon seven items, including wire harnesses
and aluminum bus bars. In future, we willcontinue to contribute to the preventionof global warming and the preservationof the global environment, in cooperation
with our customers.

■ Emission of Greenhouse Gases■ Energy Consumption and EIPUP (at five works)(1,000 tons - CO2)
1200

Improvement in facilities

200

Other affiliated companies

Improvement in lighting

Furukawa-Sky

Furukawa Electric

800
600

100

99
86

160

1000
204

550

194

517

220

539

400

Installation ofreflectors

facilities.
 Improvement in lighting
As for light sources, two low power
lamp-type lighting fixtures were replaced
by a single lamp type lighting fixture (32W
x one lamp) and reflectors were installed.

228

543

236

522

151

156

120

98

79

143

97

96

86

88

132

129

95
91

EIPUP index
Long-term target
127

100
80

EIPUP index*

Timer selector
switchor more jobs at the same time, and fan
motors were kept running while the facilities were shut down to change tools.
Timers were installed on these composite
stranding machines so that the fan motors
stopped during the shutdown of these

Energy consumption (1,000 k )Major factors for energy conservation
included: controlling of the number ofcompressors and their integration, controlling cooling water pumps by inverters,
using air conditioners sparingly, using
energy saving lighting, automatically
recovering the waste heat of scrubbers,
suspending or sealing the use of our facilities and improving the yield.
Access Cable Company has improved
its facilities and lighting.
 Improvement in facilities
During the operation of composite
stranding machines, operators do two

60

80

40

40

20

200
0

282

252

233

227

222

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004 (Fiscal year)

10

0

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004 (Fiscal year)

0* EIPUP index: Representation of EIPUP for each fiscal
year with the EIPUP in fiscal 1999 set as 100

Environmental Performance

Chemical Substance Management
The Furukawa Electric Group has been working on the reduction of tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, anddichloromethane among organic chlorine compounds. In addition, because Furukawa Electric has achieved
excellent results in reducing the use and emission of ozone-layer depleting substances and organic chlorinecompounds, the Company has worked on the reduction of toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene, which are volatileorganic compounds since fiscal 2003.

Organic Chlorine Compounds
30 companies including Furukawa Electric have eliminatedthe use of tetrachloroethylene, while 26 companies including
Furukawa Electric have eliminated the use of trichloroethylene.
Dichloromethane was used at one of Furukawa Electric’s works
during the manufacturing process of a specific product. The affiliated companies reduced the emission by 54% compared to fiscal
2000, and 28 companies did not use this compound. The companies using the targeted substances are promoting reduction
activities aiming at their complete elimination in fiscal 2008, while

reviewing the manufacturing process and materials. For example,
Asahi Electric Works used a surface treatment agent containing
trichloroethylene to prevent oxidation on connection sleeves for
distribution lines. In fiscal 2004, however, they stopped using
this agent and replaced it with a substitute. Furukawa ElectricIndustrial Cable conventionally used dichloromethane for theircleansing processes, but they stopped using it and replaced itwith a substitute.

Specific Chemical Substances
Furukawa Electric has promoted activities to reduce the threetargeted substances (specific chemical substances) since fiscal
2003. Toluene accounts for about 96% of these three substances,and is used as a product cleanser and in floor paints. As reduction measures, we have implemented a review of the content ofcleaning agents, improved our washing tanks, and switched tousing water-soluble paints. In addition, improvements in quality
have reduced the number of times that repeated cleansing has
been needed. Emission of the three targeted substances was
reduced by 46% compared to fiscal 2000, slightly short of thetarget of a 52% reduction.

■ Release and Transfer Volume of PRTR Substances
Substance
No.

Name of substance(Unit: tons)■ Emission of Organochlorine Compounds

Handling
volumeEmittedvolume111.7

0.1

Transferred Neutralized
volumevolume25

Antimony and its compounds

40

Ethylbenzene

8.7

0.0

0.0

8.7

63

Xylene

53.2

16.4

16.5

20.2

64

Silver and its water-solublecompounds

1.3

0.0

0.0

0.0

67

Cresol

339.5

0.1

0.1

338.8

108

Inorganic cyanide compounds

3.3

0.0

2.9

1.1

N, N-dimethylformamide

85.8

Decabromo-diphenylether

170.9

4.2

0.0

0.0

Dichloromethane

1.7

0.0

172
197

0.7

0.2

84.8

0.0

12.2

0.0

207

Copper salts (water-soluble)

14.3

0.0

0.0

0.0

227

Toluene

550.7

183.1

290.0

73.8

230

Lead and its compounds

4,381.7

0.0

0.2

0.2

231

Nickel

2.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

232

Nickel compounds

6.5

0.0

0.0

0.0

253

Hydrazine

5.9

0.0

0.0

5.9

266

Phenol

217.7

0.0

0.2

217.1

272

Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate

13.5

0.0

1.0

0.0

312

Phthalic anhydride

2.1

0.0

0.1

0.0

* Targeting substances of handling volume of 1 ton or more at works (0.5 tons or more for specific substances)

Other affiliated companies
Furukawa-Sky
Furukawa Electric

300
231
201

200

114
100

3.3

145

11

(tons)
400

0

94
73

62

67

48

44

34

2000

2001

2002

91

63
3
2003

48
2004

1

(Fiscal year)■ Emission of Specific Chemical Substances(tons)
400(Furukawa Electric only)
366

300
296
228

200

206

198

2003

2004 (Fiscal year)

100

0

2000

2001

2002

Green Activities
Furukawa Electric has promoted green procurement. While we were requested by our customers to cooperate
on green procurement and we responded to their demands on product investigation and audit, the customers’
demands on thorough source control from the viewpoint of the entire green supply chain increased recently,
and we responded to these demands.

Green Procurement

Performance in Fiscal 2004
Green procurement ratio forgeneral commodities

Investigation ratio of products purchasedfrom major vendors

No. of commodities

50.0%

Investigation ratio for vendors

79.0%

Amount44.2%

Investigation ratio for purchased products 63.0%

Green Product Management Activities
The worldwide major trend of green activities is changing, from controlling at business bases the emission of substancesthat impact the environment, to controlling
generally the environmental impact thatthe products may generate. Customers arerequesting that we guarantee we will notuse products designated as harmful to theenvironment, or use other products that contain such harmful substances. Furukawa
Electric conventionally established the Green
Procurement Executive Committee under
the Central Committee for Environmental
Management to respond to our customers,
and in fiscal 2004 we worked on the establishing a green product management system
under the slogan of “Products bearing the
Furukawa Electric brand will be made all
green.”The Green Procurement Executive Commit-

tee, which has been operating for two years,
dissolved at the 19th meeting, and insteada “Green Product Management Committee”
was formed. At the same time, there was areview of the members of the committee,
and representatives from the plants and thefacility sections were added, in addition to
those from the marketing and engineering
sections. This committee aims to promote
the introduction of a product certification
system and practice global law observance
management.
Targets of Green Product Management Activities
To establish a green product management system
by December 2006 with the aim of making productsof the Furukawa Electric brand all green——Achieving products free of RoHS and RoHSfree plants——

Screen of green procurement support system

Green Logistics

Activities at Automotive Products Division
The Automotive Products Division of theElectronics & Automotive Systems Company
worked on establishing an environmental
impact substance management system in
response to requests from automotive manufacturers.
In addition to the EMS System which
includes reducing industrial waste, undertaking zero-emission and energy conservation activities, which plants have worked
under in the past, we have made it our policy
to establish a scheme in which prohibited
environmental impact substances cannot
be mixed with the products at each stageof our research, development, design, purchase, manufacture and distribution. The
Automotive Products Divisional Environment
Committee was set up in the Division andan environmental session was organized ineach plant. This respective environmental
session mainly clarified the supply chain of
our products, the instruction not to use environmental impact substances with drawings

For general commodities such as officesupplies, we have designated products
recommended by the Green Purchasing
Network and products attached with ecolabels as products that meet our green procurement requirements. These products are
displayed in green on the selection screenof our purchasing system so that purchasers
can positively select products that conformto this network’s recommendations.
For manufacturing parts and materials
relating to our products and manufacturing processes (purchased products), we
have proceeded with an investigation in theenvironmental management situation of ourvendors and the content of hazardous substances in our products. The investigation
results are organized using the green procurement support system to promote information sharing.

and specifications to vendors, and developed our receiving system to ensure themanagement of purchased products, theformulation of a scheme to prevent environmental impact substances from being usedin our processes, and so forth.
We prepared a green procurement guideline for Automotive Products Division andheld a briefing for our vendors. We also
requested their cooperation in investigatingpurchased parts and materials using an environmental impact substance investigation
sheet, disclosing constituent substance, presenting certificates confirming the non-use of
specific environmental impact substances,
etc., and our vendors fulfilled this request.
Analytical instruments were introduced ineach plant, to verify that no prohibited substances were contained in our products, andwe strengthened our management to ensure
the carrying out investigation of purchased
products and products to be shipped.

12

The Furukawa Electric Group has endeavored to reduce the environmental impact
in the logistics area by reducing packaging
materials, reusing and recycling cable drums
and sharing transportation and delivery.
Measures to prevent global warming
include:(1)the transportation and delivery of aluminum products from Furukawa-Sky’s Fukui
Works was changed from truck transportation to container transportation whichuses a railroad; and(2)The NOx emission was previously known,
but from fiscal 2004 the CO 2 emission
began to be grasped.
We have promoted the reduction of CO2
and NOx emitted from vehicles, and reduced
the number of delivery vehicles, by increasing the practice of mixed loading and theuse of large-sized vehicles, to contribute to
the prevention of global warming.
(For details, please refer to the introduction of
Furukawa Logistics, on page 29.)E

nvironmental Performance

Recycling Activities
The Furukawa Electric Group is positively working on material recycling and is promoting waste recycling by
establishing a collection network and recycling system. We are also promoting the development of technologies
to optimize the recycling of various materials, including copper, aluminum and plastics, with the aim of constructing a recycling-oriented society by reducing industrial waste and recycling other waste.

Recycling Technology
Furukawa Electric uses nine collection networks nationwide to collect wires
and cables that have been removed, andalmost 100% of the copper and aluminum, the raw materials for conductors,
that are used in these cables is recycled.
Insulation materials are also recycled foruse in recycled plastics or as fuel. Crosslinked polyethylene, which was conventionally incinerated or disposed of in landfills, is recycled to make porous pipes
for irrigation purposes, thus utilizing theproperty of this material.
At Zaikoo the automated processes ofcable stripping, cutting, shredding andgrinding are performed by using dismantling facilities to materially separate collected wires and cables (including opticalcables). These materials are then sorted into polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride,
iron, copper, etc. by the material sorter.
Polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride aremolded into recycled pellets, which arereused in various resin products of theGroup. Metals such as copper, aluminum,iron and lead scrap are 100% recycled.
Thus, Zaikoo has developed a recycling
technology, aiming at a recycling society,and continues their challenge to totallyeliminate waste by completely recycling
disposed electric wires, from their collection to their dismantling to recycling.
(Web site of Zaikoo http://www.zaikoo.com)

Automated dismantling facilities■ Recycled products

Recycled electric wires(Communication cables)

Recycled electric wires(Electric power cables)

Cable duct for underground laying(KOHTA KUN)

Synthetic resin trough (Green Trough)Weed barrier sheet

Details of our recycling technology are accessible at the following Web site of Furukawa Electric.

http://www.furukawa.co.jp/enviro/tech/index.htm
Furukawa Electric has established a
Recycle Center to perform various kindsof plastic recycling, such as reusing the
discarded materials of various used plastic products and to recycle materials lostin the production process. Among others,
we have a grinding line which shreds andgrinds large-sized discarded plastic material, a volume reduction line that uses heatto shrink large-volume discarded foamed
materials, a pellet extruding line that produces pellets from reduced-volume discarded materials by using an extruder.
The pellet extruding line is capableof cutting cross-linking of cross-linked
polyethylene by using unique equipment
and a unique process, and recycles pellets which have physical properties similar
to those of virgin pellets. These recycledpellets are not only recycled into other13

products, but they are also widely used asmaterials for injection molding and extrusion molding.

Pellet extruding line

Eco-Design Activities
Development of Environmentally Friendly Products
Eco-design has manifold aspects
including designing products that consume small amount of energy in termsof LCA, material and structure selections
that enable 3R, and designing productsthat do not contain toxic or hazardous
substances. Therefore, Ecology & Energy
Laboratory is promoting the developmentof environmentally friendly products fromthe following viewpoints.
● The laboratory performs research anddevelopment in products with a longlife span, such as wires and cables andmaterials and structures that do notcontain toxic or hazardous substancesand can be recycled and reused.
● Conductors for electric power cables
and communication cables are recycled, thanks to the establishment of acollection method for copper wires andaluminum wires. The laboratory performs product development of resins,
which are collected simultaneously with
conductors, putting priority on recycling
them into electric wires and cables, andif this is not feasible, it aims to deploy
resins for other plastic products.
● The laboratory applies processing technology honed over a long time, to newmaterials such as material derived fromplants and vegetables, to develop distinctive products.
Voices of the development staff

Shigeru Tokuda
Eco-Products Department,
Ecology & Energy Laboratory,
R&D Division

Environmentally friendly products are
not adopted without the application oflaws and regulations. Even if we ask
whether this situation is really acceptable, the reason for not adopting suchproducts lies in high material costs, andhalf of our work is devoted to cost reduction activities.
When I am involved in developing
recycling technology for plastic waste, I
find that just by using a simple process,waste can be turned into an excellent
product. One example of such a productis Green Trough. Considering that plastic
waste is a resource, I wonder if it is allright to take plastic waste to China soquickly. Has Japan become a resource
exporting country? This may be something that will not bring any joy.

sheath is unlikely to crack under the presDevelopment of Non-halogen,sure applied by a welding blade, by comPVC-substitute Equipment Wire for
Pressure Welding (ECO-BEAMEX 105R) bining special base resin composition techPressure welding wires are simultaneously pressure welded to connectors in alarge number of wires.
Normal non-halogen wires are easily
crushed and have small repulsion elasticity,and consequently they deform at the strain
relief point, or sheathes peel off. In addition, it was not possible to use a normal
non-halogen wire, because the sheath was
cracked at the pressure welding blade.
We have developed pressure welding
non-halogen wires that deform very little
even at the strain relief point and whose

Green TroughThis product is a recycled product madefrom plastic waste such as wire sheath
waste, and replaces a conventional concrete trough. While utilizing the characteristics of a plastic that is lightweight andsuperior in durability, we have combined
plastic with an inorganic filler to achieve thenecessary rigidity and strength. Generally,
the properties of waste plastic materials
are inferior to those of virgin materials, andthere are large variations in their performance. Therefore, we have optimized thetype and quantity of the inorganic filler andused various additives to ensure a stableperformance.

nology, fire retardant surface treatments
and cross-linking technology.
The developed wires are sold as ECOBEAMEX 105R and have been well received
among our customers for use in officemachinery.

ECO-BEAMEX 105R pressure welded to connector (hasthe same pressure welding workability as PVC wire)

In terms of the shape, it has a connectedstructure that allows it to absorb the expansion and contraction caused by temperature changes, and at the same time a lid
is used to secure it, so that it can be usedsafely under various settings and in strong
winds.
There is a high demand for a concretecolored one, and the commercial production of this is within sight.

Green troughExamples of Environmentally Friendly Products
Furukawa Electric designates products that are safe and havea low environmental impact at each stage of their manufacture,use, distribution and disposal as “Environmentally Friendly
Products”, and these products have this environmental logo.

Porous pipe for irrigation, recycled fromcross-linked polyethylene

Copper alloy substituting beryllium copper■ Ratio of Environmentally
Friendly Products

67%
Reflow oven for use with lead-free solder

Mechanical sleeve thatcan be easily removed
from concrete and reused

The ratio of environmentallyfriendly product sales to new
product sales is called the ratio ofenvironmentally friendly products.
Details of environmentally friendly products
are accessible at the following Web site of
Furukawa Electric.

Halogen-free electric wire for lighting equipment14

http://www.furukawa.co.jp/enviro/
pro/index.htm

Environmental Performance

Environmental Risk Management
Countermeasures Regarding Pollution of Soil and Groundwater
We have been conducting soil andgroundwater pollution investigations at
facilities that have a history of using toxic
substances. If the soil and groundwater is found to be polluted during theseinvestigations, we promptly take action tosecure the health and safety of the local
community.
We also report to the government bodyabout these environmental conditions andmeasures to be adopted to clean the environment, and disclose this information to
the local residents, related institutions andmedia according to its content.
In fiscal 2003, we formulated “SoilEnvironmental Risk Management Guidelines”, and in fiscal 2004 we deployed theabove guidelines across the Furukawa
Electric Group, which is carrying out activities according to these guidelines.
Especially, investigations into the history of use of specific toxic substances wereconducted at each facility of Furukawa
Electric and its affiliated companies. This
work required a considerable amount oftime and labor. It has been found, however, that toxic substances are or wereused at various divisions, and that thisinvestigation is effective in the risk assessment of soil and groundwater pollution.
We will take measures according to theassessed risk.
The standard that “Underground construction of storage facilities and piping
for hazardous substances shall be prohibited when they are newly installed”
was established by the division which

designs and installs manufacturing facilities of Furukawa Electric in December
2004. In the future, we will standardize andimplement this design policy in the facility design sections of the entire Furukawa
Electric Group.

Outline of “Soil Environment Risk Management Guidelines*” (*formulated in 2003)
1) We shall restrict the handling of specific toxic substances specified in the Soil
Contamination Countermeasures Law.
In principle, the construction of new storage facilities and piping shall bepositioned above ground when they are newly installed. Undergroundconstruction shall be prohibited.
2) We shall thoroughly manage the use, storage and disposal of hazardous
substances and seek to switch to substitute substances.
 For specific hazardous substances which are currently being used, areas where there isa possible risk of leakage of these hazardous substances into the soil and groundwatershall be checked and recorded.
 We shall review processes where hazardous substances are used and seek to reduce
the usage volume of such substances. We shall switch to substitute substances.

3) We shall implement an investigation into the usage record of specific hazardous
substances at all plants and facilities.
 We shall investigate the record of usage of specific hazardous substances, tracking
back to around 30 years ago, and shall continue to monitor the usage of hazardous
substances.
 The record of usage of specific hazardous substances shall be investigated, according
to the written materials and we shall record the periods and volume of purchases, use,
storage, and disposal. The locations where each of these processes is carried out shallbe recorded as a diagram, or in other ways, and these records shall be stored.

Situation and Countermeasures Regarding Pollution of Soil and Groundwater Situation and Countermeasures at
Furukawa Electric
The countermeasures taken in fiscal
2004 are as follows.
 Nikko Works
Announcement April, September andNovember 2004
Contaminant Selenium, arsenic, lead,
cadmium
Location Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture
Company-owned areas in Arasawa Uodome,
Tanze and Kiyotaki 4-chome districts

Cleansing method Cleansing andrecycling into cement materials, after the
drilling and removal of contaminated soil
 NF Park Building (site where former Central
Research Laboratory was located)

Announcement July 2004
Contaminant Lead, arsenic, mercury,trichloroethylene
Location 2-9-15 Futaba, Shinagawa-ku,
Tokyo
Situation Soil pollution on the premises

Cleansing method Drilling and removal ofcontaminated soil, replacing with clean soil

Location 1750, Kiyotaki Arasawa-cho,
Nikko-shi, Tochigi* With regard to the Nikko District, cleansing workfor two locations was completed in fiscal 2003.
From fiscal 2005 onward, pollution investigations
and cleansing work are scheduled to be implemented at six locations in the company-owned
peripheral areas and scheduled to be completed
by 2006.

Situation Soil pollution on the premises of
the company
Cleansing method Drilling and removal ofcontaminated soil, replacing with clean soil,
vapor extraction, and cleaning of original sitewith a chemical treatment

 Situation and Countermeasures ofAffiliated Companies
Furukawa Electric advises its affiliatedcompanies to respond appropriately to
local residents, government bodies andother parties involved.
Affiliated companies of Furukawa
Electric that were found to have water andsoil pollution in fiscal 2004 and their contamination situations are as follows.
● Tochigi Metal Co., Ltd.
Announcement May 2004
Contaminant Hexavalent chromium, lead,tetrachloroethylene

15

Site of countermeasures taken for contaminatedsoil at Tochigi Metal

The following companies have continued to undertake countermeasures since2003.
 Totoku ElectricContaminant PCB, dioxin
Location Former Nagato Works (Nagatocho, Chiisagata-gun, Nagano) Kyowa Electric WireContaminant Lead, cyanogens, boron,
fluorine, dichloromethane
Location Former Osaka Works(Neyagawa-shi, Osaka) Furukawa Color Aluminum
Contaminant Hexavalent chromium
fluorine
Location Main Works (Utsunomiya-shi,
Tochigi)

 Furukawa-Sky
Contaminant Tetrachloroethylene
Location Oyama Works (Oyama-shi,
Tochigi)

PCB Management
Concerning PCB, which had been used
as insulation oil for electrical equipment,
transformers, electrical capacitors andstabilizers for fluorescent lights, the volume is controlled and properly managed
at each of the works of Furukawa Electric.
These stored PCBs will be processed by
Japan Environmental Safety Corporation*,
etc. one by one.
* Japan Environmental Safety Corporation is a
“special company” established based on Japan
Environmental Safety Corporation Law, wholly
owned by the government, and mainly succeeding the PCB waste treatment programs of theformer Japan Environment Corporation.

PCB storage status■ Quantity of PCB stored
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Name of works
Chiba Works (Processed)
Chiba Works (Unprocessed)
Nikko Works
Hiratsuka Works
Mie Works
Osaka Works
Kambara Works
Shinagawa Works
Yokohama R&D Laboratories
Total(unit: item)

Removed and stored
86
36
182
40
53
55
0
(Stabilizer only)
9461

In use
0
0
140
3
73
11
3
0
0
230

Total
86
36
322
43
126
66
3
(Stabilizer only)
9691

Compliance with Laws and Regulations
We are regularly confirming the laws
and regulations to be observed, andmaking efforts for compliance by patrolling our sites to check the implementation status.
We keep track of revisions of laws andregulations, by closely following the latest
information in government gazettes.

Conduct of Investigation Regarding Handling of Wastewater Data
In response to the problem of water
quality data management at a certain
company in Chiba Prefecture, Furukawa
Electric rechecked the data of all of
its works. As a result, two works were
found to have made transcription errors,
although they met the standards. Theseerrors were corrected.

Oil Leakage inside Chiba Works
An oil leakage accident from an oil
pipeline flange, caused by the swellingand deterioration of the relevant packing,occurred in August last year. Although no
oil leaked outside the works and there
was no fire, the leaked oil permeated thesurrounding soil and contaminated a partof it. Upon reporting this accident to theContent of Investigation
1) Management System concerning Pollution Prevention● Are there standards?
● Is there a Management System Chart?
2) Analysis of Wastewater● Is there a transparent and objective scheme for sampling and analysis?
● Is the analysis data known to the staff concerned? To what extent is it known?
● Is the handling of analysis data standardized?
● Is there any scheme that prevents description errors in automated data handling ordata checks?
● Is there a scheme that checks the reports and the contents of the description
concerning notification to municipalities?
3) Confirmation of Document Content Submitted to Municipalities Concerning
Wastewater● Was there any error in the submitted contents concerning analysis data?
● Was there any error in the transcription or compilation of analysis data?
4) Compliance Awareness of All Employees● Is there education in law observance and ethics?
● Is there education and training in response to abnormal conditions?

fire, prefecture and city authorities, we
completed the restoration of the area bytaking measures such as replacing thecontaminated soil, which included measures to prevent a recurrence.

Chiba Works / Work of replacing soil

16E

nvironmental Performance

Environmental Accounting
We compiled “environmental conservation cost”, “economic benefit associated with environmental conservation
activities” and “environmental conservation benefit” to quantitatively grasp the results of environmental costs
and benefits. This data is collected in conformity with the environmental accounting guidelines published by
the Ministry of the Environment. For affiliated companies, the data is collected for 11 companies, an addition of
three companies to the eight companies publicized for fiscal 2004. The companies covered are described on
page 7.
Furukawa Electric

Affiliated Companies

Environmental conservation costs were: 5.3 billion yen and capital
expenditure of 400 million yen. Economic benefits were 260 million yen.
Expenses increased by 360 million yen from fiscal 2003. This is due toan increase of 650 million yen in soil pollution treatment costs, despite adecrease of 300 million yen in resource circulation costs including waste
disposal costs. Capital expenditure increased by 30 million yen.

The companies included in the compilation this time are Furukawa
Industrial Plastics, Furukawa Techno Material and Furukawa-Sky.
Environmental conservation costs were: 2.5 billion yen and capital expenditure of 800 million yen. Economic benefits increased by 300 million yen, due
to the soaring prices of crude oil despite a decrease in the energy consumed.

(Unit: million yen)

■ Environmental Conservation Cost
Category

Furukawa ElectricAfﬁliated Companies
Change over theAmountAmountprevious year

Key activity and the outcome(1) Business area cost(2) Upstream/downstream cost(3) Administration cost(4) Research and development cost(5) Social activity cost(6) Environmental remediation cost
Total

Pollution prevention such as air pollution, energy conservation,
waste disposal, etc.
Retrieval of containers, drums, etc.
Audit of environmental management system, monitoring of environmental impact, etc.
Development of environmentally friendly products, research insubstitutes for toxic substances, etc.
Tree planting, cleaning in local communities, donations, etc.
Assessment for environmental impact, cleanup of polluted soil, etc.

1,606

-277

1,559

408

49

117

470

-38

251

1,134

-25

390

4
1,683
5,304

-2
651
357

3
142
2,462

For Furukawa Electric, the data in fisca�
2003 is recompiled under the same scope as for fiscal 2004.
For affiliated companies, a cha�those in the previous fiscal year.

■ Investment and Research Cost
Investment and Research Cost
Environment-related investment
Total investment cost
Total research cost

(Unit: million yen)

Furukawa Electric
Amount
433
8,402
9,667

■ Environmental Conservation Benefit

Afﬁliated Companies
Amount
786
9,418
4,131

Furukawa Electric Afﬁliated Companies
Environmental PerforUnit
mance Indicators
Industrial waste disposaltamount*Energy consumed (crude
1,000 koil basis)
1,000 tWater consumed
Emission of volatile organictchemical compounds
1,000 tonCO2 emission
CO2t
SOx emissiont
NOx emissiontSoot emission■ Economic Benefit Associated with Environmental(Unit: million yen)
Conservation Activities
Contents of Beneﬁts
Revenues gained by recycling
Reduction in waste disposal costs
Reduction in energy costs
Reduction in water purchase costs
Total

Furukawa Electric
Amount
179
54
30
-3
260

Afﬁliated Companies
Amount
75
-27
-364
0.3
-316

* - (minus) represents an increase.

■ Environmental Conservation Cost
4,948
4,355
3,721

5,304

Research and development cost

6

1,100

-564

2

-2

5

15

-1
67
-2

81
86
-64

Revenues gained by recycling
Reduction in waste disposal costs

1,103

Reduction in energy costs
Reduction in water purchase costs

800

Business area cost

Amount of revenues and expenses

600

2000

400

1000

200

0

3

1000

Upstream/downstream cost

3000

-632

* - (minus) represents an increase.

1200

Social activity cost
Administration cost

3,676

2,202

(million yen)

Environmental remediation cost

5000

Reduction■ Economic Benefit(million yen)
6000

4000

* Amount excluding recycled waste

Reduction

413

397

260

2000

2001

2002

2003

116

0

2004 (Fiscal year)

17

-200

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

Environmental Preservation Performance Indicators
Of the works of Furukawa Electric, the data for atmospheric emissions and wastewater quality of four Works thatare registered as specialized plants are described below.
■ Chiba Works
Atmospheric Indicators
Item

Unit

NOx

(ppm)

Soot (g/Nm3)

Equipment

Wastewater Quality Indicators
SelfLegal
Average Maximum
imposedStandards
Value
Value
Standards

Measurement Item

Unit

Legal
Standards

SelfimposedStandards

Average
Value

Maximum
Value
8.3

Boiler

180

180

57

94

pH

5.0~9.0

5.0~9.0

7.8

Melting furnace

180

180

26

41

COD

(mg/l)

15

15

3.7

9.9

Boiler

0.2

0.2

0.009

0.017

SS

(mg/l)

20

20

3.4

12.5

Melting furnace

0.1

0.1

0.032

0.042

n-h (mineral oil)

(mg/l)

2

2

0.2

0.5

Legal
Standards

SelfimposedStandards

Average
Value

Maximum
Value■ Nikko Works
Atmospheric Indicators
Equipment

Wastewater Quality Indicators
SelfLegal
Average Maximum
imposedStandards
Value
Value
Standards

Item

Unit

180

180

111

130

pH

5.8~8.6

6.0~8.5

7.3

7.4

NOx

(ppm) Melting furnace

200

200

32

41

BOD

(mg/l)

25

16

3.7

5.1

Dryer furnace

300

250

19

38

SS

(mg/l)

50

20

1.0

1.6

Boilern-h (mineral oil)

(mg/l)

5

0.5

0.2

0.2

Legal
Standards

SelfimposedStandards

Average
Value

Maximum
Value

Boiler

17.5

17.5

0.51

0.62

SOx (K value) Melting furnace

17.5

17.5

0.28

0.28

Dryer furnace

17.5

17.5

0.20

0.20

Boiler

0.3

0.3

0.003

0.003

Soot (g/Nm3) Melting furnace

0.2

0.2

0.002

0.002

Dryer furnace

0.5

0.2

0.006

0.007

Measurement Item

Unit

■ Mie Works
Atmospheric Indicators
Item

Unit

NOx

(ppm)

SOx (Nm3/Hr)
Soot (g/Nm3)

Equipment

Wastewater Quality Indicators
SelfLegal
Average Maximum
imposedStandards
Value
Value
Standards

Measurement Item

Unit

Boiler

180

140

65

68

pH

5.8~8.6

6.5~8.5

7.4

7.7

Melting furnace

180

140

12

15

BOD

(mg/l)

10

4

1.2

2.0

Boiler

0.6

0.5

0

0

SS

(mg/l)

25

6

0.8

1.3

Melting furnace

41.6

33.3

0

0

n-h (mineral oil)

(mg/l)

1

0.7

0.1

0.4

Boiler0.3

0.24< 0.005 < 0.005

Melting furnace

0.3

0.24

0.007

Legal
Standards

SelfimposedStandards

Average
Value

Maximum
Value
8.1< 0.011■ Osaka Works
Atmospheric Indicators
Equipment

Wastewater Quality Indicators
SelfLegal
Average Maximum
imposedStandards
Value
Value
Standards

Item

Unit

150

120

2.0

2.0

pH

5.7~8.7

5.7~8.7

7.5

NOx(ppm) Melting furnace

200

160

2.0

2.0

BOD

(mg/l)

300

10

4.0

9.0

Heating furnace

170

144

2.0

2.0

SS

(mg/l)

300

50

12.2

26.0

Boilern-h (mineral oil)

(mg/l)

5

2

1.2

2.0

Boiler

1.17

1.17

0

0

SOx (K value) Melting furnace

1.17

1.17

0

0

Heating furnace

1.17

1.17

0

0

Boiler

0.10

0.08

0.001

0.001

Soot (g/Nm3) Melting furnace

0.20

0.16

0.001

0.001

Heating furnace

0.25

0.20

0.001

0.001

Measurement Item

18

Unit