The Asahi Kasei Group's Environmental Contribution Products
What are Environmental Contribution Products?
The Asahi Kasei Group internally certifies products and services that contribute to improving the environment and reducing the environmental burdens along their overall lifecycle as Environmental Contribution Products.
Concept of certifying products as Environmental Contribution Products
Products are judged from raw materials, to production, transportation, use, and disposal.
Even if the environmental burden of Environmental Contribution Products on a particular aspect is heavy compared to standard products on the market and our existing products (baseline), it is still lower than the baseline on a total product basis. We are promoting such initiatives because the deployment of such products will help reduce the environmental burden on society.
The guideline for Environmental Contribution Products is based on the "Guidelines for Calculating the Avoided CO2 emissions" issued by ILCAJ, the “Guidelines for Calculating the Contribution to CO2 Emission Reduction” issued by the Japan Chemical Industry Association, and the “Guidelines for Quantifying GHG emission reductions of goods or services through Global Value Chain” issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology’s LCA database IDEA and others are used to calculate the volume of GHG reduction contribution.
Targets and results
The Asahi Kasei Group aims to contribution to reducing GHG emissions in society through increasing GHG reduction contribution of Environmental Contribution Products. We set targets for GHG reduction contribution to increase at least double in fiscal 2030 and 2.5 times or more in fiscal 2035 compared to fiscal 2020.
Contribution to reducing GHG emissions through Environmental Contribution Products
| FY2035 Target | FY2030 Target | FY2023 Results | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume of the GHG reduction contribution from Environmental Contribution Products | 2.5 times or more compared to fiscal 2020 | At least double compared to fiscal 2020 | 1.40 times (Reference value) Approximately 18 million tons* |
- *Regarding reference values for the GHG reduction contribution
The baseline setting and the approach for the contribution ratio in the calculation of individual products are considered appropriate for each product. For this reason, simple sums of the contributions of each product or inter-company comparisons are not always rational.
Internal Certification Process
Products proposed by strategic business units and core operating companies are internally certified as Environmental Contribution Products after external experts on the LCA Review Panel confirm the rationality of the environmental contribution from an LCA perspective. The inclusion of academic perspectives has promoted the improvement of the knowledge and skills of our human resources and has also led to a deeper understanding of the need to promote initiatives for Environmental Contribution Products with a medium- to long-term perspective.
LCA Review Panel (held on May 24, 2024)
- Chairman
- Atsushi Inaba (Chief Director of Japan Life Cycle Assessment Facilitation Centre (LCAF))
- Panel Members
- Hiroyuki Uchida (Principal, Mizuho Research & Technologies, Ltd.)
Kensuke Kobayashi (Associate professor, Prefectural University of Hiroshima)
Keigo Matsuda (Professor, Nagoya University)
A meeting of the LCA Review Panel
At the LCA Review Panel, personnel in charge of each product explain the details of environmental contributions and receive comments and advice from outside experts on the suitability of the establishment of baselines and our approach to environmental contribution.
Description of Environmental Contribution Products
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- *Photo shows a wafer of ICs for TCXO
Key points of the contribution of Environmental Contribution Products
| Environmental Contribution Products | Key points of the environmental contribution | |
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Ion-exchange membrane process for chlor-alkali electrolysis | Low electricity consumption in electrolysis |
| Manufacturing process for acrylonitrile | High yield (catalysts) | |
| Dimethyl carbonate production process | CO2 as a raw material | |
| Polycarbonate production process | CO2 as a raw material | |
| Cyclohexanol production process | High yield | |
| Adipic acid production process | High efficiency in N2O decomposition | |
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Hipore™ and Celgard™ lithium-ion battery separators | Essential for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles |
| Elastomer for asphalt modification | Improvement of road durability | |
| S-SBR synthetic rubber for fuel-efficient tires | Contribution to tires’ rolling performance | |
| Dinamica™ artificial suede | Improvement of rate of use of recycled PET and reduction of solvents (DMF) | |
| Xyron™ modified PPE for electric vehicle battery modules | Weight saving of battery cases in hybrid vehicles | |
| Asaclean™ cleaning agent for resin molding machines | Resource saving in the cleaning of molding machines | |
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Duranol™ polycarbonatediol for soft-touch paint | Reduction in solvent use (butyl acetate) |
| Low-viscosity grades of Duranate™ HDI-based polyisocyanate | Reduction in solvent use for paint manufacturers | |
| Xyron™ modified PPE for solar cell connectors | Reduction in the number of modules required for high-voltage systems and the quantity of resin used | |
| Microza™ membrane filtration module | High durability of membrane (resource saving) | |
| AWP™ photosensitive resin for printing plates | High printing performance, productivity, no solvent required | |
| UVC LED for water sterilization | Power saving and no use of mercury | |
| CO2 sensors | Reduction of unnecessary ventilation | |
| Current sensor for large air conditioners | Energy conservation with inverter motors | |
| Hall elements and Hall ICs for home air conditioners | Energy conservation with inverter motors | |
| IC for temperature-compensated crystal oscillators (TCXO)for communication base stations | Reduction of used electricity due to absence of heater | |
| Ecoloop™ OPS film | Increased ratio of recycled material | |
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Hebel Haus™ unit homes and Hebel Maison™ apartment buildings | Durability for 60 to 100 years, energy conservation (ZEH etc.) |
| Neoma Foam™ insulation material | Fewer resources required for equivalent insulation performance |