Co-existence with the Environment Initiatives

We are working to reduce the amount of fuel and electricity used in our manufacturing processes. In addition to improving the efficiency and energy-conservation performance of our production facilities, we are electrifying our heat source equipment and switching from liquid fuels to natural gas. Furthermore, we are using existing technologies to develop and demonstrate the use of hydrogen, ammonia, and other substances in our gas burners.

We are also working on energy creation from renewable sources, such as solar, hydro, and wind, and as of FY2023, we have increased the amount of renewable energy installed to five times the FY2021 level.

In order to measure our progress in reducing CO₂ emissions, we established a database to visualize CO₂ emissions by identifying the energy consumption of each piece of equipment at the manufacturing stage.

As of FY2023, we have reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 33% relative to FY2013 levels.

Scope 3 emissions account for the majority of the CO₂ emissions associated with YKK AP's business activities across the supply chain as a whole. Of these, emissions from the procurement of raw materials for products account for 80% of the total. In particular, the procurement (mining, refining, and overseas transportation) of aluminum ingots used for aluminum products and other products has a significant impact, and increasing the utilization rate of recycled materials (re-used raw materials such as aluminum scrap recovered from the market) will have the greatest impact toward achieving carbon neutrality. All aluminum scraps generated in the manufacturing process are reused, and we have already achieved an internal recycling rate of 100%.

Furthermore, we are aiming to achieve a 100% aluminum recycling rate for materials on the market generated outside the company, and have improved this rate to 33% as of FY2023.

We are involved, as the lead company, in the "Creation of a Toyama Resource Recycling Society Model," an industry-academia fusion hub concept project to revitalize aluminum-related industries in Toyama Prefecture, led by the University of Toyama. In this way, we are conducting in-depth technical development of aluminum recycling through collaboration between industry, government, academia, and the private sector.

In regard to logistics, as of FY2023 we have introduced 15 double-trailer trucks for transportation over land, increasing the amount of cargo transported at once by 1.8 times the previous level. By introducing "trunk line relay transportation," which includes consolidating transportation routes and improving loadability by combining partial loads, "secondary delivery," which includes joint delivery and alternate-day delivery, and "modal shift," which includes using railroad containers, we are making ongoing efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions.

As of FY2023, we have reduced Scope 3 emissions by 10% relative to FY2013 levels.

In pursuit of realizing a circular economy, we promote activities that are in line with the Three Rs (Reduce; Reuse; and Recycle) to reduce waste materials, and reuse and recycle materials.

We aim to improve recycling rates (zero landfill) and reduce waste output by 40% from our business activities. We focus on valorizing and reusing waste and enhancing resource efficiency.

We have already achieved the 100% recycling rate for industrial waste generated from manufacturing sites in Japan and continue our efforts to reach 100% domestically and internationally.

To "reduce industrial waste", we prioritize reducing plastic packaging materials through simplifying packaging, shifting them to returnable ones, and standardizing packing materials. Additionally, we have introduced facilities at the Kurobe Ekko Plant to produce RPF (refuse-derived paper and plastics-densified fuel) from waste plastics like film and laminate, along with recycled paper and wood chips, further promoting waste valorization.

We are also actively engaged in recycling the vinyl produced during the manufacturing process for vinyl windows and after use. We have installed crushing and sorting equipment at each of our vinyl window manufacturing sites, and by reusing the materials as raw materials for vinyl profiles and gaskets^* for insulating glass, our internal recycling rate had improved to approximately 45% by the end of FY2023.

To minimize CO₂ emissions throughout the supply chain, YKK AP applies its "Environmentally Friendly Design Guidelines" during product development. We evaluate and improve products with respect to the following five items over the product lifecycle: "visualization of CO₂ emissions," "standardization of packaging materials," "visualization of environmentally hazardous substances," "ease of disassembly and separation," and "environmentally friendly design guidelines and evaluation methods." In particular, with regard to packaging materials, we are expanding the use of reusable packaging materials and reducing the amount of plastic used. In FY2023, CO₂ emissions were calculated when developing new products, and further reductions were explored.