Environmental Management Environmental Sustainability Report 2005

Environment-friendly Production (2)

[2] Building a Recycling-based Society

To build a recycling-based society, the first priority is to reduce the generation of waste to the maximum extent. For waste whose generation cannot be prevented, it is important to recycle the waste to whatever degree possible. Kobe Steel is actively participating in the building of a recycling-based society. At works and plants, efforts are being made to reduce waste by increasing product yield and using waste plastic generated by society. Reducing the Volume of Waste and Promoting Recycling Kobe Steel has promoted the recycling of slag and steel dust generated in the steelmaking process. Since fiscal 1992, each location has drawn up a comprehensive action program for recycling waste and has been promoting waste reduction and recycling. As a result, the recycling rate was 97.2% in fiscal 2004 on average throughout all the locations. In fiscal 2004, we disposed some of the dust saved for recycling, which was previously difficult to reuse. We will further suppress waste generation by developing new technologies for difficult-to-recycle waste. Volume of Waste, Recycled Volume & Recycling Rate (Non-consolidated) Zero Emission Activities Since 1997, Kobe Steel has been promoting zero-waste emission activities to eliminate the final disposal volume of wastes at works and plants. Iron and Steel Sector Slag Recycling Kobe and Kakogawa works generate approximately 2.09 million metric tons of blast furnace slag and approximately 920,000 metric tons of converter slag annually. Both blast furnace slag and converter slag are recycled into cement material, roadbed material and other use. In particular, blast furnace cement made from powdered slag is more effective than regular cement in controlling the alkali-aggregate reaction. It can also save energy during cement production and emit less CO2. Customers highly value these qualities. Moreover, fine aggregate for concrete made by adjusting the particle size of granulated blast furnace slag is used as a substitute for natural sand, contributing to environmental protection. Coal Ash and Sulfur Oxide Recycling Nearly all the coal ash generated from coal-fired boilers is recycled as cement material and composite roadbed material. Sulfur oxide included in exhaust combustion gas is efficiently used, made into gypsum by the exhaust gas desulfurizer. Granulated slag yard Examples of Shinko Sand applied products Production Flow for Fine Aggregate for Concrete from Blast Furnace Slag (Shinko Sand) Shinko Sand is listed as a designated procurement item under the Law on Promoting Green Purchasing. Dust Recycling Dust generated at the steelworks is collected by dust collectors. Nearly all the dust is recycled. Low-zinc dust is used in sintering and pelletizing. High-zinc dust is turned into cement material. Fly ash recycling At Kakogawa Works, in order to utilize fly ash generated from the coal-fired boilers, a pelletizing facility was installed using technology for steam-cultivated spherical pellets called ashstone. Currently, ashstone is utilized as a road material. Ashstone Kobe Steel's Efficient Fly Ash Utilization Technology: Awarded the 2004 METI Encouragement Prize on Recycling Technology and Systems Kobe Steel's Iron and Steel Sector received the prize from the Clean Japan Center in October 2004 for effectively utilizing coal ash for road material. The prize was established in 1975 to encourage outstanding businesses and disseminate their activities that contribute to suppressing, reusing, and recycling waste. It is one of the oldest prizes for recycling and environment preservation. Fly ash has been effectively used in cement material. However, the low demand for cement in the recent years has spurred the development of new applications for fly ash. Meanwhile, crushed stone used as a construction material, such as in roadbeds, is becoming more difficult to extract from the environmental perspective. As a result, industry was seeking the development of alternative materials. Kobe Steel developed technology to manufacture spherical pellets called ashstone. This cleared the environmental and technological limitations owing to the fineness of the grains and enabled the ashstone to be used as roadbed material. The originality and strong potential of the technology was highly evaluation. Waste Plastic Recycling In addition, Kakogawa Works also accepts waste plastic collected not only in the works but also from outside in accordance with the Container and Packaging Recycling Law. Kakogawa uses the waste plastic as a reductant in the blast furnaces. Because chlorine deteriorates the blast-furnace refractory and corrodes steel, only low-chlorine waste plastic was used until recently. In April 2004, the first commercial dechlorination facility for removing chlorine in waste plastic was completed. The new facility makes it possible to use more than 75% of the waste plastic as a reductant. The chlorine removed is turned into hydrochloric acid, which is used in the pickling line. In fiscal 2004, Kakogawa Works recycled approximately 9,000 metric tons of waste plastic. Newly installed dechlorination facility Waste Plastic Recycling in a Blast Furnace RPF Utilization At Kakogawa Works, RPF is used as fuel for the circulating fluidized bed boilers for power generation to reduce the amount of coal used. RPF (Refuse Paper & Plastic Fuel): Solid fuel consisting of used paper, waste plastic, and other materials. Recycling Other Byproducts Kakogawa Works segregates and separates glass bottles, aluminum cans, and other items at ecostations. Also, it effectively utilizes used refractories, waste oil and sludge, and recycles dust into cement material and low iron-content sludge into decorative bricks. Kobe Steel has succeeded in recycling high zinc-content dust which was difficult to recycle. It carries out thorough zero-waste emission at the steelworks. Recycling Rate (Kakogawa Works) Ibaraki Plant, Welding Company: Receives the 2004 Osaka Environmental Award/Encouragement Award Kobe Steel's Ibaraki Plant was given the award from the Osaka Citizen's Council for Creating a Rich Environment in June 2004. The award, which is in its eighth year, is given to individuals, organizations, and businesses that could be role models for others for their activities contributing to creating rich environment. The Ibaraki Plant was highly rated for developing an innovative automatic packaging line and putting it to practical use. The line was developed to use stretch films as a packaging material, instead of large cardboard boxes, to reduce waste. Aluminum and Copper Company The Moka Plant has installed two melting furnaces for scrap, improved the yield ratio during melting, and reduced the volume of impurities (aluminum dross) during aluminum melting. Furthermore, the plant operates two arc furnaces to improve the recovery rate of aluminum dross. The remaining ash, as a result of development efforts, is effectively recycled as cement material. Most of the residual from aluminum dross is no longer disposed as landfill, resulting in a recycling rate of 86.3% in fiscal 2004. Currently, Kobe Steel is promoting research and development to improve recycling efficiency. The Chofu Plant also operates an arc furnace to strengthen its efforts in zero waste emission. It has a recycling rate of 99.5%. At the Daian Plant, waste plastic is segregated by quality and stored separately. The disposal system was changed from simple incineration to entrusting disposal to outside professionals who carry out thermal recycling. Changes in Resource Recovery rate of Wastes (Moka Plant) Machinery & Engineering Company In fiscal 2004, the Harima Plant recycled waste cleaning fluid, refuse from whetstones and grindings, and welding fume. Waste fluid from cleaning liquids for compressor parts had been disposed as waste alkali, but now it is recycled as fuel by mixing it with waste oil. Refuse from whetstones and grindings had been disposed as landfill before, but they are now recycled into whetstones and metal materials respectively. Also, welding fume, which used to be disposed as landfill after incineration, is now recycled as a raw material in cement. Effective utilization technology of aluminum dross: received the METI Minister's Award for 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Promotion In October 2004, Kobe Steel's Aluminum and Copper Company and Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd. was presented the prize by the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3R) Promotion Council for the effective utilization of aluminum dross. The award aims at promoting and improving the consciousness for 3R by awarding individuals, groups, schools, and businesses that lead 3R activities toward a recycling-oriented society and make outstanding achievements through continuous efforts. Aluminum dross emerges when aluminum is melted. Containing a large amount of impurities and oxides, the dross is removed during the casting process. About 60% to 80% of aluminum dross is composed of metallic aluminum. Although there are many ways to recover aluminum from the dross, the recovery rate has been low, and the residual ash after aluminum recovery was often used in landfills as industrial waste. Kobe Steel jointly developed the new arc furnace with The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. The aluminum is recovered and reused at an unprecedented high rate. Also, the residual ash, conventionally disposed as landfill, can be used as a raw material in cement. As a result, disposal as landfill of residual ash has largely been reduced. These active contributions to 3R were highly evaluated. Aluminum Dross Recycling Process Activities at Group Companies Shinko Kobe Power Inc. stores coal ash in special-purpose storage silos and totally recycles it as cement material. An air slider is used to prevent scattering during shipment. In addition, gypsum generated from the exhaust gas desulfurizer is recycled after being stored in hermetically sealed silos for use as cement material and loaded onto ships using a ship loader. Ash silo Gypsum silo Kobelco Eco-Solutions Co., Ltd. target is to reduce waste by 50% and promotes activities for waste reduction, recycling, and separation through environmental education. The education includes an in-house eco-tour for watching the actual conditions at a garbage collection site and the collection of used paper cups. In-house ecotour at Kobelco Eco-Solutions Co., Ltd. Also, Kobe Steel thoroughly separates wastes into designated categories at operations at home and abroad, under the concept of: "If sorted, it becomes a resource. If not, it's just garbage." Separating wastes at an overseas operation Environment-friendly activities at the offices include through separation and recycling of all wastes such as newspapers, magazines, used papers, drink containers, florescent bulbs, and batteries. Sorted trash collection at office Activities at Other Group Companies Group company Office location Activity Kobelco Eagle Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. Takasago, Hyogo Recycles chromium steel processing scrap in cast products. Sakai Steel Sheets Works, Ltd. Sakai, Osaka Recycles plastic sheets for coil packaging. Kobelco Logistics, Ltd. Kobe & Amagasaki, Hyogo Of the 6,000 boxes used annually for moving, reuses 20% for office moving. Reduced the use of about 5,000 cardboard boxes by switching to reusable environmentally friendly eco cases. Shinko Kenzai, Ltd. Amagasaki, Hyogo Recycles steel, aluminum, and waste oil. Uses recycled paper for all office paper. Kobe Special Tube Co., Ltd. Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Recycles acids generated from other companies as a neutralizer for part of a neutralization process in wastewater treatment plants. Achieves sludge reduction equivalent to 196 tons/year by increasing the dewatering function in wastewater treatment plants. Reduces the number of fabricated boxes by simplifying packaging. Uses boxes for packaging from boxes returned by customers. Shinko Engineering & Maintenance Co., Ltd. Kakogun, Hyogo Encourages more meticulous segregation of various wastes to improve the recycling rate. Ni-Kobe Welding Co., Ltd. Nagasaki Separates general office wastes thoroughly. Kobe Welding Wire Co., Ltd. Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Introduced new recycling process for waste spool generated at the plant in fiscal 2004. The waste spool is reused as a raw material for spool plastic (polypropylene) by crushing and mixing with new plastic. Shinko Actec Co., Ltd. Toyooka, Hyogo Reduced packaging material by increasing the number of products packed in boxes or the number of parts when parts are purchased. Shinko Taseto Co., Ltd. Fujisawa, Kanagawa Utilized waste pallets for fuel. Collected product containers and reused them after recycling. Reduced the kinds of packaging material and the amount of labels used. Hanshin Yosetsu Kizai Co., Ltd. Okayama, Okayama Promotes the recycling of office paper. Recovers and recycles slag from customers after customers use welding fluxes. Promotes the use of returnable flexible container bags. Sun Aluminium Industries, Ltd. Chiba Recycled waste aluminum foil. Began to use light foldable plastic returnable boxes in place of wooden boxes and steel racks for transportation. Kobe Leadmikk, Ltd. Kitakyushu Promotes the use of returnable boxes utilizing special-purpose plastic cases. Reuses all packages of products for domestic customers. Niko-Aluminium Industries, Ltd. Moka, Tochigi Changed from wooden pallets to highly durable aluminum pallets. Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. Hiroshima Promotes recycling of waste plastic. Reconditions construction machinery parts and sells as reused parts. Aims to increase recyclability at the design stage. Kobelco Sanki Service Co., Ltd. Takasago, Hyogo Reduced cleaning oil for mixers. Transnuclear, Ltd. Minato-ku, Tokyo Cleared the 10% reduction target of paper use by paperless offices and two-sided copying. Kobelco Eco-Solutions Co., Ltd. Kobe Kakogun, Hyogo Separates office paper, magazines, cardboards, and others as well as container packaging material. At Harima Plant, wastes are thoroughly recycled through a new separation and collection process adopted in February 2005. Maintains and utilizes equipment that customers no longer use. Implements product assessment at the design stage. Shinko Engineering Co., Ltd. Ogaki, Gifu Conducts thermal recycling of wastewater for a coating process containing oil. Utilizes metal waste as a raw material for castings. Reduces packaging material by adopting returnable boxes and returnable pallets. Changed product covers from plastic to metal in order to improve recyclability. Shinko Electric Co., Ltd. Ise, Mie Thoroughly sorts used paper, and started recycling waste plastic. Reduces weight by changing from wooden boxes to cardboard boxes and promotes the use of returnable boxes. Designs easily decomposable products. Japan Superconductor Technology Inc. Kobe Kitakyushu Recycles wooden boxes and bobbins. Utilizes recycled aluminum. Shinko Research Co., Ltd. Koto-ku, Tokyo Shreds paper in a way not to damage the fiber to promote "paper to paper" recycling.