Environmental Accounting

The Kobe Steel Group continuously engages in environmental conservation. The cost and benefit of these efforts is analyzed, and relevant information is disclosed in order to deepen understanding on the part of stakeholders.

Kobe Steel invests in the installation and continual maintenance of environmental equipment, and environmental measures are pursued on a variety of fronts. In order to carry out environmental protection efforts, in fiscal 2015 we invested around ¥1.6 billion to replace the bricks in the hot blast stoves at Kakogawa Works and make other improvements.

The main results of the above investment include: energy savings through higher efficiency equipment and improvement in thermal efficiency; reduction in soot, smoke, and dust through the installation and updating of dust collectors and through fuel conversion; and reduction in the risk of industrial effluent leaks through updating of piping. These results contribute to reduction in CO₂ emissions, reduction in impact on the atmospheric environment, and prevention of water pollution.

Total outlay in fiscal 2015 was approximately ¥35.8 billion. Approximately 30 percent of the outlay was used to limit air pollution, approximately 14 percent to limit water pollution, and approximately 33 percent for waste recycling and processing. Regarding contributions made through products, technologies and services, outlay for R&D, such as development of equipment and machinery for hydrogen stations and development related to multi-materials aimed at reducing the weight of cars (including participation in a national government project for the development of new and innovative structural material technologies promoted by the Innovative Structural Materials Association), amounted to approximately ¥5.7 billion, or around 16 percent.

In the future we will continue to take measures geared toward environmental conservation.