sharp & environmental policies
Sharp Environmental and Social Report 2009
Sharp’s dedication to environmental stewardship is a long standing corporate core value that’s demonstrated in our products and our business activities; it’s not a response to the latest trends.
Sharp’s business philosophy revolves around attaining mutual prosperity with stakeholders by contributing to the culture, benefits, and welfare of people throughout the world. To realize the business philosophy, all employees hold to and follow our business creed, which calls for “Sincerity and Creativity”.
We are proud of the many ways that Sharp is following its business philosophy and business creed of “Sincerity and Creativity” by working to fulfill the environmental and societal aspects of its corporate social responsibility.
HIGHLIGHTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Sharp has been working to reduce, to the greatest extent possible, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted as a result of Sharp’s worldwide business activities, while at the same time striving to significantly increase the magnitude of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through customer use of Sharp energy-creating solar cells and energy-saving products.
1. SHARP GREEN FRONT SAKAI
On October 1, 2009, Sharp Corporation started operations at its new LCD panel plant (SDP1) in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Construction began in November 2007 on Sharp’s state-of-the-art manufacturing complex— Sharp Green Front Sakai2. Sharp Green Front Sakai will bring the world two environmentally friendly products: energy-saving LCD panels and energy-creating solar panels3. Sharp aims to make this complex an environmentally advanced production base through such environmental measures as adopting LEDs for all indoor and outdoor lighting (approximately 100,000 LED lights) throughout the complex. In addition, Sharp will install solar panels on all factory roofs to provide some of the needed electricity.
Sharp Green Front Sakai is the new driving force behind Sharp’s efforts to make environmentally friendly products at an environmentally conscious plant, thus helping to realize a greener society.
2. TECHNOLOGY
Sharp is advancing in the research and development of unique environmental technologies in four areas—energy saving and energy creation, effective use of resources, safety and peace of mind, and health and comfort—to raise the environmental performance of its products and devices, and lower their environmental impact during their life cycle. Sharp Corporation and Kansai Recycling Systems Co., Ltd. jointly developed closed-loop plastic material recycling technology in 2001. In fiscal 2008, the quantity of material recycled and used using this recycling technology reached approximately 1,050 tons, and this technique is steadily growing as a business pursuit.
3. PRODUCT AND DEVICE
Sharp is constantly improving the environmental performance of its products and devices. Every year the company revises its guidelines for environmentally conscious design, thus creating increasingly stricter assessment standards for internal certification as environmentally conscious products and devices. In fiscal 2008, the percentage of total sales of Green Seal Products reached 91% and that of Super Green Products in Japan reached 68%.
4. FACTORY
By fiscal 2008, 21 of Sharp’s 38 Japanese and overseas factories have been upgraded to Super Green Factories (SGF) an internal Sharp standard for environmental performance of our manufacturing sites, all 10 Sharp Corporation factories in Japan that have already been upgraded to SGF have begun upgrading to the new SGF II criteria. Under SGF II, the amount of emissions to be reduced was set to below fiscal 2007 levels as part of the efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and waste. The result was achievement of these new, lower levels which were due to the effects of various measures as well as a decrease in output.
5. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
For fiscal 2008, the Sharp Group reduced total greenhouse gas emissions by 6%, keeping emissions of CO2 as well as emissions of PFCs4, from both Japanese domestic and overseas facilities, below the level of the previous fiscal year.
Click here to view the Calculation Standards for Environmental Performance Indices
6. WASTE GENERATION
In fiscal 2008, the Sharp Group in Japan and overseas discharged less waste, etc. (waste and valuable resources) than the previous fiscal year, and overall Sharp was able to achieve a 10% reduction in the total amount of waste, etc. generated.
7. WATER CONSERVATION
The amount of water used by the Sharp Group in fiscal 2008 decreased by 11% compared with the previous fiscal year, thanks to increased recycling of water and a decrease in production volume. As a result of thorough recovery and recycling of water, particularly at the Kameyama and Mie plants in Japan, Sharp achieved a water-reuse rate of 61% at its Japanese plants.
8. TRANSPORTATION
In fiscal 2008, Sharp in Japan significantly expanded shipping volume by ship, and was able to increase the use of rail and ship transport by 12% over the previous fiscal year. In the US, Sharp Electronics Corporation (SEC) participates in the SmartWay Transport Program4 where it has taken the lead in promoting wider participation in this program. In 2008, the total weight of freight volume of products distributed by SEC, that complied with this program reached 97%. SEC was honored with an excellence award for its activities, the first shipper to win this award four years in a row.
9. RECYCLING
In fiscal 2008, Sharp in Japan recovered and recycled about 1.46 million units (up 7% over the previous fiscal year) of the four types of home appliances designated under the Japan Home Appliance Recycling Law. Beginning in April 2009, Sharp is recycling flat-panel TVs (LCD and plasma) and laundry dryers in Japan. In fiscal 2008, the quantity of material recycled and reused through the use closed-loop plastic material recycling technology reached approximately 1,050 tons.
In the US, SEC launched its national voluntary recycling network for end-of-life Sharp televisions and other products through MRM. There are more than 350 collection sites for Sharp products across the United States with a goal of establishing 400 collection locations by the end of 2009.
10. SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION ACTIVITY
Sharp in Japan has been working with the Weathercaster Network (WCN), a nonprofit organization of weather forecasters in the Japanese radio and television media, to hold environmental education classes for fourth to sixth graders at elementary schools around Japan. By December 2008, classroom presentations had been given in a total of 1,000 schools, reaching approximately 65,000 children. In October 2008, Sharp began full-scale efforts to provide environmental education classes to elementary school students in China and the US. In the US, classes were given in 21 schools, mainly in New Jersey and California, with local employees volunteering to serve as instructors.
Sharp will further strengthen its policies for global environmental conservation including energy-creating and energy-saving, and based on the existing relationship with companies in the supply chain and other cooperating companies, Sharp will contribute to the realization of a low-carbon society by spreading the technical expertise it has developed widely throughout society.
View the entire Sharp Corporation 2009 Environmental Report >>
ISO 14001 Certification
The International Standards Organization (ISO) establishes performance objectives and environmental management systems to prevent pollution, ensure compliance with regulations and achieve continual improvement. In 1995, Sharp began the process of acquiring ISO environmental management system certification for its production facilities. And in 2004, Sharp completed the process, with all Sharp Corporation plants worldwide now ISO 14001 certified. Further, in 2002, Sharp introduced its own Environmental Management System, which adds 49 additional control points for all our plants to supplement those specified by ISO standards.
See our certification >>
1 Sharp Display Products Corporation
2 Sharp Green Front Sakai is a name used in Japan.
3 The thin-film solar cell plant is scheduled to start by March 2010.
4 A general term for perfluorocarbon gases such as CF4 (carbon tetrachloride) and C2F6 (carbon hexafluoride), and the like, which are greenhouse gases.
5SmartWay Transport Program: A joint effort by the US Environmental Protection Agency and industry to promote environmentally conscious shipping and distribution.