Sustainable Resource Use

Resources Management

Basic stance

A global business enterprise, the Nidec Group has been aiming to reduce its business-generated waste since FY2004 by engaging in various actions steadily. As our company grows larger via M&A and other means, so does the amount of waste, as we consume more and more resources. This tendency requires us to use resources effectively, and this is why Nidec tries to minimize its waste in its manufacturing process, and also in the use of packages and packing materials. It is our belief that delivering to our customers high-efficiency motors and moor-based solutions for high efficiency (e.g., traction motor systems for EVs and cooling devices for datacenters) leads to an efficient use of not only energies but also oil, coal, and other energy resources as well. Furthermore, we also manufacture machine tools for producing motors and these solutions. We have an overwhelming share of the machine tools for aluminum cans, which are being reevaluated as plastic-free. In the future, we will consider developing measures that can contribute not only to our own manufacturing processes, but also to the effective use of resources by our customers and society.

Target

Our materiality-based themes include “management of waste and hazardous waste,” and we aim to “reduce our FY2025 volume of waste generated in intensity per unit sales by at least 3% from the level of FY2022.” The “waste generated” in this target includes hazardous waste, and Nidec reduces its generation by implementing actions to achieve the aforementioned target.

Materiality

In addition, in our midterm environmental conservation action plan, too, we have been engaging in actions to reduce the amount of waste generated by setting a target.
Please click here for more details on Nidec’s midterm environmental conservation action plan.

Achievements

In FY2023, Nidec generated 289,269 tons of waste generated, which is a 4.7% reduction in intensity per unit sales from the previous fiscal year. This achievement is due to our continuous actions, including an effective use of resources via thorough sorting of waste and production efficiency improvement.

Section	Unit	FY2022	FY2023
Waste generated	t	304,245	289,269
Waste generated (intensity per unit sales)	t/million yen	0.13643	0.12997
Waste recycled	t	114,259	245,888
Final disposal volume of waste generated	t	209,216	48,191

As our categorization per resource, started in FY2022, was insufficient, the amount of “other solid waste (non-hazardous)” was 155,567 tons, approximately 50% of the entire amount of our waste. However, after we were more informed on per-resource categorization in FY2023, it became clear that much of the aforementioned amount of solid waste (non-hazardous) can be categorized as “metals.” As a result, FY2023 saw the amount of metals in our tabulation data increase significantly. On the other hand, though, we became more prepared for the launch of specific measures to reduce the use of individual resources.

Breakdown of waste generated

Item classification		FY2022	FY2023
Item classification		Amount[t]	Amount[t]	ratio
Metal	Iron	60,155	156,827	54.2%	69.3%
	Aluminum	6,102	10,503	3.6%
	Copper	3,647	4,546	1.6%
	Other non-ferrous metal scrap	32,919	28,525	9.9%
Plastics	Plastics	11,095	18,741	6.5%	6.5%
Paper	Paper	7,106	7,314	2.5%	2.5%
Wood	Wood	4,647	9,110	3.2%	3.2%
Sludge	Sludge	4,811	7,264	2.5%	2.5%
Other solid waste	Non-hazardous	155,567	27,381	9.5%	11.3%
Other solid waste	hazardous	8,697	5,367	1.9%	11.3%
Liquid waste	Waste oil	5,813	5,344	1.9%	4.7%
	Waste acid	328	2,371	0.8%
	Waste alkali	196	267	0.1%
	Other liquid waste (hazardous)	3,162	5,709	2.0%
Total		304,245	289,269	100%

Cost of outsourcing waste processing and recycling

To ensure a legal and secure waste processing and recycling in the management of waste and hazardous waste, we need to manage our costs properly. In FY2023, we incurred 52million yen for the outsourcing of waste processing work.

Nidec’s outsourcing cost of waste processing and recycling in FY2023

Section	Cost (in millions of yen)
Outsourcing of waste processing and recycling	52

Actions

Nidec’s actions to reduce the generation of waste on the product front includes the promotion of saving resources by reviewing product development and designing processes. In addition, in our manufacturing process, where improving material yields is important, we analyze waste generated per resource and visualize losses as we address various issues. Analyzing the amount of waste generated per resource led us to re-realize that ferrous waste is the waste generated the most, and revealed that we will be able to reduce the waste by reducing the machining loss from our production process.

We continually work to promote recycling through sorting waste as foundation for these initiatives. Each business sites also works to enlightenment activities for employees along with securing enough storage area for waste and displays and explaining the sorting method in local language to understand easily. Nidec Global Appliances Brazil provides training on waste separation rules in order to solve common mistakes and questions about waste separation. Knowledge of waste separation is useful not only at the office but also at home and in the community.

Waste management training at Nidec Global Appliances Brazil

Additionally, Nidec Electronics (Thailand) Rojana Factory actively participated in project activities promoted by the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization under the Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and was awarded for its achievements in 2022. We were able to reduce 738,661 tons of greenhouse gases generated from waste processing through recycling efforts through the separation of factory waste in this initiative.

Commendation from Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management
Organization at Nidec Electronics (Thailand) Rojana Factory

Nidec Global Appliance Mexico, S.DE R.L. DE C.V. steadily spreads its circle of actions to all over the world though a workshop featuring an environmental quiz and many other activities.