Sustainability
NGK Group Environmental Policy / Environmental Vision
Recognizing that protecting the environment is a vital issue that all of humanity must face, the NGK Group formulated its Core Policy on the Environment in 1996 in order to bring its corporate activities into harmony with the environment. In April 2021, the NGK Group established the NGK Group Vision: Road to 2050 along with the NGK Group Environmental Vision. The NGK Group Environmental Vision is centered on helping to achieve carbon neutrality, a recycling-oriented society, and harmony with nature. In April of the same year, we revised NGK’s Core Policy on the Environment based on the NGK Group Environmental Vision, and reported this to the Board of Directors. By conducting business activities in line with the revised policy, the NGK Group works to reduce the environmental impact of business activities, and actively strives to help protect the environment by developing products and technologies to that end.
NGK Group Environmental Policy
The NGK Group will promote initiatives that serve as a framework to contribute to carbon neutrality, a recycling-oriented society, and living in harmony with nature.
NGK Group Environmental Vision
To help realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations, the NGK Group seeks to provide new value to society with our unique technology, thus contributing to the realization of a sustainable society and earning positive expectations and trust from society. The NGK Group Vision: Road to 2050 announced in April 2021 outlines the entity that NGK strives to become by 2050 and requires management to address Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) issues. Based on the NGK Group Vision and to respond to such expectations and trust, in April 2021 we formulated the NGK Group Environmental Vision.
NGK Group Environmental Vision
The NGK Group will contribute to the realization of society’s direction toward carbon neutrality, a recycling-oriented society, and harmony with nature through its business activities.
Toward carbon neutrality
We will develop and provide products and services that contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society and apply them to our own business activities in order to achieve our goal of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Toward a recycling-oriented society
We will contribute to the realization of a recycling-oriented society by reducing our natural resource consumption and developing and providing resource-efficient products.
Toward harmony with nature
We will minimize our environmental impact on ecosystems and raise stakeholder awareness through educational activities in order to achieve harmony with nature.
Carbon Neutrality Strategic Roadmap
The NGK Group has drawn up its Carbon Neutrality Strategic Roadmap comprising four strategies as a guide to realizing the goals of the NGK Group Environmental Vision.
We have established a Group-wide target of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, with milestone targets along the way of 550,000 metric tons by FY2025 (25% reduction compared with the FY2013 base year) and 370,000 metric tons by FY2030 (50% reduction). In the future, we will consider advancing our efforts to achieve net zero ahead of schedule by promoting the development of related technologies such as hydrogen, CCU and CCS (carbon capture, use and storage).
Four Strategies of the Carbon Neutrality Strategic Roadmap
Strategy 1: Development and provision of carbon neutrality (CN)-related products/services
In addition to our existing carbon neutrality (CN)-related products, we will also work to commercialize new products under development as well as offer society NAS battery-driven renewable energy supply business and other relevant services.
Strategy 2: Top-down enhancement of energy-saving
We will work to further enhance our existing energy conservation activities, as well as introduce high efficiency equipment and facilities and more energy-efficient operations.
Strategy 3: Promotion of technical innovation
Although the ceramics firing process requires fossil fuel which is responsible for CO2 emissions, we will work to switch over to hydrogen, ammonia and other fuels that will allow us to become fossil fuel-free.
Strategy 4: Expanded use of renewable energy
In addition to promoting various renewable energy procurement strategies both within Japan and overseas, we will install photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems at production sites within the NGK Group, and use them in conjunction with NAS batteries and zinc rechargeable batteries, to achieve demand control. We will use this as a model case in the NGK Group’s renewable energy business, and work towards the goal of enabling all energy demand within the NGK Group to be met through renewable energy.
Carbon Neutrality Strategic Roadmap
