Basic Concept
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a process used to numerically assess the use of raw materials, their environmental impact, and their potential environmental impact on the earth and ecosystem over the entire life of a product, spanning the procurement of raw materials through to production, distribution, use and disposal. The Nisshinbo Group's Business Conduct Guidelines include Awareness and Concern towards its environmental impact. The Group promotes the reduction of environmental burdens throughout the life cycle of its products, including the stage of use, and faithfully realizes a safe and secure society for all people. The Group manages key performance indicators (KPIs) as part of systematic measures to achieve its environmental goal of "promoting LCA."
【Main measures】
- ① Improved convenience by making the same LCA software available in Japan and overseas
- ② Promoting the development and expansion of operators by holding LCA software utilization seminars
- ③ Reduction of chemical substances and waste emissions based on product LCA results
- ④ Introduction of LCA from the product development stage and application of it for the development of environmentally friendly products
Please refer to "Promotion System" in "Environmental Management" for the promotion system.
Specific Initiatives of The Nisshinbo Group
Advancement of LCA activities
The Nisshinbo Group is expanding its LCA activities while putting LCA software to effective use to calculate LCA data in order to understand environmental impacts and promote product standards and manufacturing process improvements, as well as the development of environmentally friendly products.
Naturally, the Group draws on LCA product results to reduce energy consumption in manufacturing and emissions of chemical substances. Additionally, the Group introduced LCA from the product development stage, contributing to the expansion of sales of environmentally friendly products.
Specific Activities of the Group Companies
LCA for Voyage Data Recorder JCY-1900N2
Japan Radio Co., Ltd. conducted the LCA of a voyage data recorder (JCY-1900N2) using dedicated software. Voyage data recorders are installed on vessels to investigate the causes of maritime accidents and record a variety of different data.
In the manufacturing stage, calculations are made by proportionally dividing the electricity and gas used by the manufacturing division on a monetary basis. Since the equipment is installed on ships, CO2 emissions during the use phase were calculated from the fuel consumption rate of the onboard generators.
The life cycle GHG emissions were 6.97 t-CO2, of which 84.8% (5.00 t/CO2) was from the use phase, followed by 12.8% (1.66 t-CO2) from the parts manufacturing phase, 2.26% (0.28 t-CO2) from the product manufacturing phase, and 0.2% (0.03 t-CO2) from the disposal phase.
In the use phase, the product emitted the most CO2 at 5.00 t-CO2 based on the assumption of 70 W power consumption and a product life of 15 years. This is 0.33 t-CO2 per year, which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions from driving about 1,400 km in a private car with a fuel efficiency of 10 km/L. The 70 W of power consumption is about the power consumption of a middle-class PC and LCD combined, which is low power consumption for a customer product.
Examples of LCA Data Application
Japan Radio Glass Co., Ltd. conducted the LCA using LCA software by dividing all materials, resources, energy, and industrial waste input into the plant during the year by the annual production volume, calculating the required input per kilogram of glass, and using that figure as the basis for the LCA.
The results are shown in the figure below. It was found that the overwhelming majority of the environmental impact of glass products is caused by the manufacturing process. The company's main business is glass molding, but there are two means of melting glass: electric melting furnaces and gas-melting pot furnaces. Since the fuel consumption of electric melting furnaces deteriorates over time because of the deterioration of heat-resistant bricks, the heat-resistant bricks are replaced every few years during a cold repair to improve fuel efficiency.
From the viewpoint of energy conservation, it is more advantageous to melt all products in an electric melting furnace that allows continuous production. However, the company will continue to produce pot furnaces because it is a company that is competitive in dealing with a wide variety of products in small lots. As for energy-saving activities for pot furnaces, the company is currently trying to reduce the number of pots in operation by improving production efficiency through yield improvement in pot furnaces.
LCA Implementation for Cable Protectors
Nanbu Plastics Co., Ltd. Oigawa Works conducted the LCA for cable protectors, a newly ordered product, as part of its FY2023 initiatives.
This ordered product will be placed inside the cables that connect renewable energy offshore wind farms to land to protect the fiber optic cables while allowing the cables to withstand external pressure in order to achieve carbon neutral in 2050. The materials used are extruded using recycled raw materials from the beginning in consideration of the environment. Extruded molded products are wound onto drums measuring 2,800 mm x 1,750 mm in diameter and weighing approximately 860 kg and shipped approximately 3,000 meters. Since the product is approximately 3,000 meters long, if the product is misshapen or broken in the middle, it must be rewound from the beginning.
The LCA results are shown in the figure below, which is the only power source to operate the production facility. In order to reduce CO2 emissions, the company will improve production efficiency by implementing measures to reduce outages, shorten the start-up time, and increase take-back speed.
Visualization of greenhouse gas emissions through LCA
Nisshinbo Chemical Inc. conducted an LCA of fuel cell separators as part of its environmental efforts in FY2023. The company's fuel cell separators are carbon separators, which are obtained by processing carbon materials and have the features of corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, and light weight.
LCA was conducted by dividing the life cycle into the procurement stage (from resource extraction to the acquisition of carbon materials), the manufacturing stage (molding, processing, etc.), the disposal stage (after customer use), and the transportation stages involved in each of these stages. The results show that greenhouse gas emissions, the cause of global warming, are particularly high due to emissions from electricity during the procurement and manufacturing stages of carbon materials.
Carbon materials consume a lot of electricity during production, so reducing power consumption will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Although some products already use carbon materials with low greenhouse gas emissions, the LCA has enabled the company to quantify and visualize its greenhouse gas emissions.
The company will continue to promote the LCA with the aim of reducing costs and the environmental impact while reducing power consumption.
GHG emissions from fuel cell separators
Carbon Footprint Initiatives
Nisshinbo Textile Inc. calculated the carbon footprint from raw material procurement to disposal for its APOLLOCOT 100% cotton no-iron shirts for men and women, which are sold at Yofuku-no-Aoyama in collaboration with Aoyama Trading Co., Ltd.
Because the APOLLOCOT shirts are manufactured in an integrated production process at an Indonesian subsidiary, the energy, chemicals, and secondary materials used in each manufacturing process are calculated using actual activity volumes. The carbon footprint, which converts the amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted during a product's life cycle (raw material procurement → production [spinning/weaving/fabric processing/sewing] → distribution → home use → disposal) into CO2, makes it possible to visualize emissions throughout the supply chain in numerical form and visualize and disclose the information. This will not only identify processes with high emissions and enable a more effective approach to emissions reduction but also help customers choose lower-carbon products.
