Home > About Us > Sustainability Management > Sustainability Report > Sustainability Report 2010
The Kobe Steel Group - There's "ECO" in "KOBELCO."
The Kobe Steel Group takes the environment into consideration in every aspect of its corporate activities, based on the three visions set out in its Basic Environmental Management Policy.
The aim is to become an advanced environmental enterprise through environmental management in which all employees play a role.
This section outlines some of KOBELCO's eco initiatives, extending all the way from the shop floor to local and international communities.
Kobe Steel combined slag, produced as a result of the ironmaking process, and steel to create an artificial steel reef in the waters around the Ieshima Islands. Testing is currently underway with the aim of cultivating seaweed and improving the fishing environment.
Kobe Steel has set out voluntary control targets and is working to reinforce measures aimed at reducing the quantity of dust particles produced by its Kakogawa Works. Targets for fiscal 2009 were achieved through initiatives such as increasing dust collection capacity
Kobe Steel developed the ECOMEL® series of iron powder for the remediation of soil and groundwater containing substances that are harmful to the environment. The latest version of ECOMEL® is capable of absorbing 10 times as much arsenic as commercially available steel powder.
Kobelco Eco-Solutions has launched an initiative aimed at using biogas from sewage sludge as municipal gas. This is the first such initiative in Japan and will reduce annual CO2 emissions by 1,000 metric tons.
The biotope at Nadahama Science Square, a community exchange facility operated by Kobe Steel, is home to a number of invaluable endangered species of freshwater fish and plants. The Nature Classroom Program gives children the opportunity to observe such wildlife and learn about the living environment.
