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About Tokai OpticalFor Environment
Environmental Policies
Environmental Policies
We co-exist in harmony with local society and the natural environment.
We carry out environmental control using the Environment Management System established in accordance with ISO14001.
- Through business activities that facilitate comfortable and culturally rich lifestyle, and by conserving energy and reducing waste, we will make efforts to maintain and improve a healthy environment.
- We will carry out ongoing improvements of our Environment Management System so that we do not cause any problems for our local society, either in our everyday business activities or in times of emergency, such as an accident. This includes preventing any regional pollution.
- We will strictly observe any laws, regulations and agreements etc. relating to the environment, and where necessary, we will establish voluntary standards for environmental preservation.
- We will establish environmental targets, ensure that we achieve them, and conduct an annual review.
- We will set down our environmental policies in writing, and maintain these policies through the establishment and implementation of our Environment Management System. At the same time, we will ensure that all employees are thoroughly aware of the policies.
- If requested by a external party, or for any other requirement, our environmental policies will be made publicly available.
Declared September 27 1999
Tokai Optical’s environmental policies
Aiming to become an environmentally friendly company
-Our factory has been converted into a complete zero-emission facility! This program remains in operation today.
-A 4Rs campaign has been undertaken on a company-wide basis in an effort to reduce waste.
In order to gain recognition by customers, communities, and society as an environmentally friendly company, our entire workforce worked as one to realize our target of making our factory a complete zero-emission facility in October 2005. Even as this program remains in operation today, the company as a whole has been undertaking a 4Rs campaign in an effort to reduce waste. In addition, we also promote ongoing improvements to an environmental management system based on ISO 14001.
Definition of a complete zero-emission facility
A complete zero-emission facility refers to a factory where 100% of all industrial waste and general non-industrial waste (such as burnable trash and raw garbage) discharged by the factory is reconverted into resources. It should be noted that the term technically allows up to 50 grams of domestic discharge a day per person.
- Reduce (reduce waste generation)
- Reuse (reuse products and parts)
- Recycle (use recycled resources)
- Refuse (refuse to accept deliveries)
| Date of activity | Contents of activity |
|---|---|
| July 2004 | Our zero-emissions goal is declared. |
| October 2004 | A facility to purify treated water for the purpose of recycling water at our head office factory begins operations. |
| May 2005 | The use of dichloromethane and HCFC-225 is fully terminated. |
| September 2005 | A raw garbage processor is introduced. |
| October 2005 | Our complete zero-emissions goal is declared. |
| July 2006 | The removal of all loose asbestos is completed. (The status of loose asbestos is surveyed on a company-wide basis, including in the sales offices nationwide. Asbestos whose use was determined at three facilities is appropriately subject to disposal.) |
| March 2007 | A large-scale exhaust system is installed as an internal and external environmental foul odor-prevention measure. |
| Date of activity | Contents of activity |
|---|---|
| July 1999 | Activities are begun with a view to obtaining ISO 14001 certification. |
| October 2000 | ISO 14001 certification is obtained (for our head office and Kamoda factories). |
| October 2003 | ISO 14001 certification is obtained (for our thin-film office) and registration is renewed (first time). |
| November 2005 | ISO 14001 certification is updated to the 2004 version. |
| September 2006 | Registration for the ISO 14001 certification is renewed (second time). |
What is ISO 14001?
ISO 14001 was enacted in 1996 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as a set of international standards governing environmental management systems in order to reduce, via ongoing improvements, environmental burdens and risks from the procurement of raw materials, production processes, waste generation, and other factors.
Environmental education program for each and every employee
We conduct an environmental education program out of the belief that it is needed to raise the environmental awareness of all employees in promoting environmental activities.
The company organizes briefing presentations and regularly provides environmental group education sessions in local areas on such topics as our effluent treatment facility and co-generation system for the benefit of environmental activity promotion officers in each department. In addition, the latest information on the environment is distributed to the entire company as bulletin board or environmental news postings as a means of informing our workforce.
Preventing global warming
In April, 2003, in order to save energy and reduce environmental impact, we introduced ten 185-kilowatt diesel generators equipped with a cogeneration system and an adsorption refrigerator. Using these generators, exhaust heat can be recovered and both hot and cold water are produced. By making effective use of these by-products to dehumidify and cool the factories, we reduced annual energy consumption by some 10% (crude oil equivalent) and carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 12%.
Effectively utilizing the exhaust heat from our cogeneration system
We installed a desiccant air-conditioning system for maintaining dehumidified air at around twenty-five degrees Celsius year-round and a direct cooler to blow cooled air into our factories while eliminating foul odors and dust particulates. By reducing the burden on our conventional air-conditioners, we contribute to energy conservation.
- We reduced the number of equipment and device units used through a review of production methods and streamlining.
- We engage in the priority purchasing of energy-saving equipment when new equipment needs to be purchased.
- The second-floor section of the head office factory was coated with roof insulation that allows us to effectively lower the indoor temperature setting by 3.4 degrees Celsius.
Reducing environmental burdens (resource saving and reducing the amount of waste generated)
Reducing the amount of water resources used
- We use approximately 100 cubic meters of effluent treated recycled water directly for production processes per day.
- In October 2004, a facility to purify treated water for the purpose of recycling water at our head office factory began operations. By using purified water in the cleaning processes and elsewhere, we reduced the amount of municipal water used by approximately 135 cubic meters per day.
- We reduced the amount of supplemental and secondary materials through changes and reviews of the production method.
- We promote the adoption of returnable containers and a non-packaging approach through reviews of shipping methods.
- We implemented measures to improve the non-defective yield rate in each department.
- We returned plastic containers, used cartridges, and more to their original manufacturers.
- We introduced a raw garbage processor to break down raw garbage into carbon dioxide gas and water vapor using bio-bacteria (September 2005).
Operating a complete zero-emission factory
We continue to operate a complete zero-emission factory by ensuring that our entire staff actively engages in environmental activities and sorts waste materials into twenty-five different categories and by carrying out distillation, material, and thermal recycling with a focus on the reconversion of plastic resources and aluminum, stainless steel, and other metal resources.
Compliance with laws
We shall comply with the law and social norms.
Effluent Treatment Facilities
In October of 2001, we launched an effluent treatment facility in compliance with the wastewater standard specified in the Agreement on Pollution Control and Preservation of the Environment formed in conjunction with the City of Okazaki. The facility's processing power is 530 cubic meters per day, about twice as large as conventional facilities, in order to prepare for future increases in volume. The facility enables us to reuse a portion of the waste water in the manufacturing process and dispose of detergent and dye by-products, which were previously dealt with outside the company. We also refurbished the septic tank and installed an automatic measuring device in April, 2003, for constant monitoring, in order to meet the fifth regulation (of the Agreement) on nitrogen and phosphorus levels.
- Management and legal affairs committee meetings, where information on regulations and amendments are ascertained and the latest versions of laws are subject to administrative control, are held monthly. In addition, explanatory summaries drafted to make relevant laws easy to understand are provided to employees via the company intranet system.
- Effluent, waste material, noise, vibrations, and other potential sources of pollution are subject to monitoring and measurements pursuant to statutory regulations. In addition, regular monitoring and measurements are voluntarily carried out to determine such questions as whether groundwater or soil has been contaminated, whether the factory has had an environment impact on surrounding areas in such terms as the release of foul odors or air pollution, and whether there are any concerns involving the workplace environment.
Contributions to the environment and society
We will make contributions to the environment and society through activities that benefit the environment and society.
- Employees participate in a community cleaning program organized once a month.
- Plant tours that also highlight environmental initiatives are held regularly for invited representatives of three local municipalities in conjunction with other companies in our industrial district.
Proposing environmentally friendly products and technologies
In aiming to reconcile improvements in customer satisfaction and our credibility with the global environment, we propose environmentally friendly products and technologies to our customers.
Organic Shield Coating
In order to address the susceptibility of plastic lenses to cracking and peeling-off when exposed to heat, we developed ophthalmic lenses to which a durable heat-resistant organic coating is applied. These lenses were released on April 1, 2007.
SAPOT system
With conventional systems, lenses are processed and cut to fit into selected frames by the retail eyeglass store. The SAPOT system is an on-line remote edging system that allows us to process and cut lenses at our factory and ship them to stores. This has the effect of helping to reduce the environmental burden on the stores since cutting-generated waste, effluent, and foul odors created during the processing of lenses can be avoided in such locations.
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