Sustainability

Environmental Performance

Environmental Performance Overview

The following shows the inputs (raw materials and energy) and outputs (products, services, and substance emissions to the water and air) which are related to the business activities of all NGK Group locations in Japan and overseas.

NGK Group Material Balance (inputs and outputs)

Category Substance Unit FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Consolidated Non-consolidated Consolidated Non-consolidated Consolidated Non-consolidated
INPUT Electric power TWh 0.95 0.25 0.88 0.22 0.98 0.23
Gas (natural gas conversion) Million Nm3 137 19 116 17 137 16
Oil (light oil conversion) Million L 1.74 0.30 1.65 0.31 1.64 0.29
Raw materials 104 metric tons 15 3 14 3 16 2
Recycled materials 104 metric tons 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
PRTR Metric tons 589 236 506 188 447 186
Water withdrawal Million m3 4.33 1.55 3.78 1.45 4.37 1.41
OUTPUT Energy-origin CO2 104 metric tons of CO2 87 16 76 13 63 12
 Energy-origin CO2 (including effects of CN LNG)*1 104 metric tons of CO2 - - - - 62 10
Other greenhouse gases 104 metric tons of CO2 1 0 0 0 0 0
 CO2 (non-energy origin CO2) 104 metric tons of CO2 0 0 0 0 0 0
 CH4 104 metric tons of CO2 0 0 0 0 0 0
 N2O 104 metric tons of CO2 0 0 0 0 0 0
 HFC 104 metric tons of CO2 0 0 0 0 0 0
 PFC 104 metric tons of CO2 0 0 0 0 0 0
 SF6 104 metric tons of CO2 0 0 0 0 0 0
VOC Metric tons 68 0 83 0 77 1
PRTR-listed substances (emissions into atmosphere) Metric tons 76 3 89 3 84 2
Discarded materials 104 metric tons 5 1 5 1 5 1
 Recycled 104 metric tons 4 1 4 1 4 1
 Disposed of externally 104 metric tons 1 0 1 0 1 0
Water discharge Million m3 3.14 1.40 2.53 1.09 2.74 1.03
PRTR-listed substances (discharge into bodies of water) Metric tons 1 1 0 0 1 1
Scope 1 (energy-origin CO2) 104 metric tons of CO2 31 4 26 4 31 4
 Scope 1 (including effects of CN LNG)*1 104 metric tons of CO2 - - - - 29 2
Scope 2 (energy-origin CO2) 104 metric tons of CO2 56 11 49 10 33 9

Value subject to third-party assurance by Deloitte Tohmatsu Sustainability Co., Ltd.

Note: The figures indicating environmental performance in this table have been rounded off for convenience, so the total may not equal the sum of the individual figures.

Note: Discarded materials indicates the sum total of industrial waste and valuable resources.

Note: The figures in the non-consolidated column are the data for NGK production locations (Head Office/Nagoya Site, Chita Site, Komaki Site, Ishikawa Plant).

Note: As with the non-consolidated values, the emission factor for electricity in the consolidated values of Outputs/Energy-origin CO2 (including effects of CN LNG) and Scope 2 (energy-origin CO2), has been changed from a fixed value to the actual value from the power company for each fiscal year, beginning in FY2020.

*1 CN LNG (Carbon Neutral Liquid Natural Gas) is LNG that is offset with CO2 credits, and thus considered to have no CO2 emissions. However, we show it as a separate category because it does not qualify for credits under current energy conservation laws.

Water Withdrawal, Water Discharge, and Recycling Rate

Water Withdrawal by Source, Water Discharge by Destination, Volume Recycled, and Recycling Rate

Item name Unit FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Consolidated Non-consolidated Consolidated Non-consolidated Consolidated Non-consolidated
Water withdrawal Tap water/industrial water Million m3 3.710 1.080 3.135 0.949 3.720 0.982
Groundwater Million m3 0.620 0.470 0.640 0.497 0.614 0.391
Rainwater Million m3 0.001 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.002 0.000
Total Million m3 4.331 1.550 3.777 1.445 4.336 1.373
Water discharge Rivers Million m3 0.828 0.354 0.734 0.296 0.733 0.301
Lakes Million m3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Sea Million m3 1.618 0..847 1.201 0.630 1.218 0.529
Sewerage Million m3 0.419 0.195 0.376 0.165 0.458 0.164
Factory complex processing Million m3 0.241 0.000 0.207 0.000 0.238 0.000
Other Million m3 0.013 0.0 0.017 0.000 0.057 0.000
Total Million m3 3.140 1.400 2.534 1.092 2.704 0.994
Volume recycled Million m3 0.090 0.000 0.066 0.000 0.063 0.000
Recycling rate % 2.0 0.0 1.7 0.0 1.5 0.0

INPUT

1. Energy
Electric power:
electric power consumption
Gas:
consumption volume of each type of fuel gas converted into natural gas volume

= Σ (Consumption volume of each fuel gas × Unit heating value of each fuel gas ÷ Unit heating value of natural gas)
<Unit heating value of fuel gas>
Natural gas: 43.5 MJ/Nm3, but in China from FY2021: 38.9 MJ/Nm3
City gas: 45.0 MJ/Nm3, but from FY2021 city gas other than for NGK alone: 44.8 MJ/Nm3,
LPG: 50.8 MJ/kg, LNG: 54.6 MJ/kg

Oil:
consumption volume of each type of fuel converted into light oil volume

= Σ (Consumption volume of each fuel × Unit heating value of each fuel ÷ Unit heating value of light oil)
<Unit heating value of fuel gas>
Light oil: 37.7 MJ/L, Heavy oil A: 39.1 MJ/L, Kerosene: 36.7 MJ/L, Gasoline: 34.6 MJ/L

2. Water withdrawal

Total tap water, industrial water, groundwater, and rainwater

3. PRTR-listed substances

Total quantity of Japan’s PRTR Type 1 listed substances handled

4. Raw materials

Total amount of raw materials used to manufacture products

OUTPUT

5. Energy-origin CO2 emission volume

Energy-origin CO2 emission volume = Σ (Consumption of each type of energy × CO2 conversion factor of each type of energy)
<CO2 conversion factor of energy>
(Unit of electric power factor) kgCO2/kWh (Unit of fuel factor) kgCO2/fuel unit

Electric power:
Japan: Emission coefficient for each electric utility adjusted in Japan based on the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures
US (other than NMC, FMI California, NL): Green-e value; US (NMC, FMI California, NL): Green-e value / value published by electric company*
Belgium, France: AIB value
Australia: Australian National Greenhouse Accounts value, Poland: AIB value / Poland National Centre for Emission Management* value, China: IEA value / Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the Republic of China value*, IEA values for other countries
Fuel:
Natural gas in China (Nm3) 2.22/2.16*, Natural gas outside China (Nm3) 2.22, City gas for NGK alone(Nm3) 2.244/2.29*, City gas other than for NGK alone (Nm3) 2.23,
LPG (kg) 3.00, LNG (kg) 2.70, Light oil (L) 2.58, Heavy oil A (L) 2.71, Kerosene (L) 2.49, Gasoline (L) 2.32, Industrial steam (MJ) 0.06
  • * Data to left of “/” is for FY2019 and FY2020, data to right is for FY2021
6. Emission volume of other greenhouse gases

Emission volume of other greenhouse gases (tCO2) = volume of activity × emission coefficient × Global warming potential
<Global warming potential>
CO2: 1, CH4: 25, N2O: 298, HFC: differs depending on type, PFC: differs depending on type, SF6: 22800, NF3: 17200

7. Water discharge

Total volume of water discharged. However, this does not include the rainwater discharge volume.

8. PRTR-listed substances

Discharge into bodies of water: Total amount of Japan’s PRTR Type 1 listed substances discharged into public bodies of water
Emissions into atmosphere: Total amount of Japan’s PRTR Type 1 listed substances emitted into the atmosphere

9. Total amount of discarded materials generated

Total amount of discarded materials generated = Externally disposed amount(*1) + Externally recycled amount
Recycled amount: Externally recycled amount = Paid disposal(*2) + Valuable amount (selling off)

  • *1 Externally disposed amount: Direct disposal by landfill, or simple incineration
  • *2 Paid disposal: Outsourcing disposal and paying for recycling
10. Scope 1 through 3
  • Scope 1: Direct emissions of greenhouse gases by the reporting company (generated from industrial processes or the burning of fuel)
  • Scope 2: Indirect emissions of greenhouse gases by the reporting company resulting from the use of electricity, steam, or heat purchased from other companies
  • Scope 3: All other indirect emissions of greenhouse gases (not included in Scope 1 or 2) that occur in the reporting company’s value chain

Scope 3 GHG Emissions

Because it has become necessary to ascertain the CO2 emissions of supply chains in recent years, since FY2017 NGK has calculated its non-consolidated upstream emissions for Scope 3 (from category 1 through category 8). Starting in FY2021 the entire NGK Group began calculating Scope 3 emissions for all categories (category 1 through category 15, excluding those which do not apply to NGK), and in FY2021 they totaled 3.449 million metric tons.
This is the first calculation for the entire NGK Group, and we were able to see the outline and scope for each category. Hereafter we will determine the important categories and consider what kind of efforts we can make towards reductions. In addition, in April 2022, NGK submitted a commitment letter to the SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative), the certification organization for Science Based Targets (SBT). Going forward, we will formulate a reduction plan for Scope 3 in addition to Scope 1 and 2. Once our science based targets (SBT) have been approved, we will actively encourage our suppliers to pursue CO2 emissions reductions.

Scope 3 GHG Emissions

Category Division Unit FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Non-consolidated Non-consolidated Consolidated
1 Purchased products and services 104 metric tons of CO2 84.2 77.0 178.8
2 Capital goods (capital investment) 104 metric tons of CO2 9.9 9.0 13.4
3 Energy 104 metric tons of CO2 1.6 1.5 8.6
4 Transport (upstream) 104 metric tons of CO2 1.4 1.3 18.8
5 Waste 104 metric tons of CO2 0.2 0.2 1.2
6 Business trips 104 metric tons of CO2 0.1 0.1 0.3
7 Employee commutes 104 metric tons of CO2 0.2 0.2 0.9
8 Leased assets (upstream) 104 metric tons of CO2
9 Transport (downstream) 104 metric tons of CO2
10 Processing of sold products 104 metric tons of CO2
11 Use of sold products 104 metric tons of CO2 122.6
12 Disposal of sold products 104 metric tons of CO2 0.4
13 Leased assets (downstream) 104 metric tons of CO2
14 Franchises 104 metric tons of CO2
15 Investment 104 metric tons of CO2
Total 104 metric tons of CO2 97.7 89.3 344.9