Environmental Education and Communication

Initiatives to Improve Environmental Awareness

In the NGK Group Environmental Policy, we have established priority initiatives for education and public relations activities, and conduct ongoing environmental education and awareness activities aimed at increasing employee environmental awareness. Our aim is to deepen the understanding of environmental problems among each employee to inculcate an awareness of environmental conservation activities. We also conduct environmental events and provide information to a wide range of stakeholders, including lectures at high schools and universities, to increase environmental awareness.

Guest Lectures at High Schools

At the request of Ai Chi Mirai Forum, an NPO that provides opportunities to learn about global problems such as environmental pollution, poverty, and war, employees regularly visit schools in Aichi Prefecture to give lectures. In such classes, we introduce corporate and sustainability initiatives, and give students an opportunity to think about themselves and the environment.

University Lectures

NGK employees visited universities to deliver undergraduate lectures as endowed BERC lecturers at the Business Ethics Research Center (BERC), a general incorporated association that supports the research and adoption of a wide array of business ethics, and to deliver graduate lectures as part-time lecturers. These lectures introduced the NGK Group’s philosophy, corporate strategy, and efforts towards carbon neutrality to students.

Sharing Information with Other Companies

The Environmental Partnership Organizing Club (EPOC)^* aims to build a circular economy and society by disseminating information related to the environment. The subcommittee led by NGK holds seminars and field trips several times a year on various themes related to corporate environmental management (such as decarbonization, resource recycling, biodiversity, water resources, and laws and regulations relating to the environment), and disseminates information to its members. In FY2024 we held three seminars and one study session.

The EPOC: A voluntary organization consisting mainly of companies in the Chubu region of Japan, which was established in 2000. NGK has been involved in the planning and management of this organization since its establishment. EPOC currently has approximately 260 members. (As of May 9, 2025)

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Employee Environmental Training and Skills Development

Environmental Expert Training

In striving to strengthen compliance related to environmental management, we conduct training using materials which can be accessed on-demand. In FY2024, around 1,500 people participated in training related to fluorocarbons, and around 5,500 in training related to waste materials.
Hereafter, we plan to roll this training out to contractors and subcontractors.

Special Environmental Training

Every year, we invite outside experts to explain and raise questions about the themes of carbon neutrality, resource recycling, and living in harmony with nature. We also introduce our employees to examples of corporate initiatives, and create opportunities to consider these issues together. In December 2024, we invited outside experts and held seminars and workshops about a circular economy as part of our resource recycling initiatives. These were targeted at employees in each business division and related departments at headquarters, and aimed to deepen their understanding of initiatives for contributing to a circular economy through seminars followed by workshops.

Promoting the Acquisition of Qualifications

To continue promoting environmental conservation activities in compliance with laws and regulations, we make an effort to increase the skills of managers engaged in pollution prevention required for the management of each site. We provide support as a company for acquisition of necessary legal qualifications, and promote systematic training and staffing.
We systematically educate both Qualified Energy Managers in the Engineering Department, and Special Controlled Industrial Waste Managers and other waste-related managers in the Environmental Management Department and other business groups.

Qualifications Acquired as of March 31, 2025 (NGK)

Support for Acquisition of Eco Test Certification

With the aim of ensuring that each employee acquires a strong environmental awareness and a wide range of knowledge with respect to the environment, NGK supports employees in sitting the Eco Test^* by lending them reference materials and subsidizing test-related expenses.
To date, a total of 871 people—approx. 20% of all NGK employees—have passed the test.

The Eco Test is an environmental and social certification test administered by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry focused on a wide-range of environmental issues.

Eco Test Certification

Environmental Data Collection

NGK Eco Point System

NGK promotes its Eco Point System in an effort to contribute to regional environmental improvement. Employees earn points for environmental behavior conducted at work and in the home, a portion of which is converted into cash and donated to local government-managed funds (environmental funds).
In addition to NGK’s three sites in Nagoya, Komaki and Chita, and the Ishikawa Plant, the system was introduced to the Tokyo Main Office and Osaka Branch and sales offices in FY2016.

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