Aiming for the realization of a recycling-oriented society, the company is working to reduce waste based on the concept of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle).
Example Initiatives
Recycling of Waste Plastic
Recycling of Tubeless Valve Scrap Rubber
Material recycling of plastic waste
At the Higashi Ogaki Plant, we used to dispose of the material purged*1 from resin molding machines in order to switch to another material when change to another mold or material, but we have begun to sell this purged material as a valuable resource in cooperation with businesses. This year, we limited the number of production lines where we did this,resulting in a reduction of approximately 4 tons of waste. Going forward, we will expand this measure to all production lines, which is expected to reduce waste by approximately 68 tons per year.
In order to further reduce waste, we will continue our activities to realize material recycling of SBR*2 and urethane.
*1 Purge: Removal of purged material
*2 SBR: Styrene-butadiene rubber, a synthetic material with properties similar to natural rubber
Reduction of urethane plastic waste by system modifying
Every time Kita Ogaki Plant’s urethane plastic injectors were shut down, we used to discard and dispose of the materials to prevent the main agent reacting with the curing agent and being cured.
The system has now been modified so that upon shutdown the equipment’s stop signal is automatically read and urethane plastic is automatically injected without being cured. This has resulted in a 39% reduction in the amount of discarded material that becomes waste.
Paint consumption reduction by changing the coating process
In the hubcap area at the Higashi Ogaki Plant, the pot life* of the paint was reviewed and the coating process was changed to achieve a more uniform coating film and shorter coating time. As a result, paint application efficiency was improved by approximately 1.8 times and reduced paint consumption was reduced approximately 228 tons per year.
*Maximum time paint can be used after mixing
