Roadmap to FY2050

Denka announced in FY2020 that it would be carbon neutral by FY2050. As a milestone, we have established the interim target of reducing CO₂ emissions by 50% (compared to FY2013) by FY2030.
Annual emissions from Denka and its Group companies in FY2021 increased compared to the previous year, when plant operations declined significantly due to the outbreak of COVID-19. However, thanks to efforts to promote energy conservation and the introduction of renewable energy (hydroelectric power), total emissions amounted to 2.15 million tons, 87% of the FY2013 level.
As part of measures to achieve carbon neutrality, we will continue to promote the following.

We are exploring and considering the development of chemical diversion for use of recovered CO₂, with a view to collaborating with local communities and surrounding companies. We are also considering the introduction and development of an environmental impact reduction process to reduce CO₂ emissions. By combining these technological developments and collaboration with external partners, we will steadily reduce CO₂ emissions generated by our business operations.

Initiatives to Reduce Environmental Burden

To fulfill its social responsibilities as a chemical manufacturer, the Denka Group is striving to reduce the environmental burden attributable to its own operations while also striving to resolve environmental concerns by recycling waste plastic and conserving biodiversity through its products and technologies.

1. Resource Recycling and Chemical Recycling

2. Efforts to Biodiversity

We expect that it will take some time to collect, organize, review, and make decisions on natural environmental information. Using the LEAP approach* recommended in the TNFD guidelines, Denka began taking action in September 2022 with a view to finding contact points between our business activities and biodiversity and identifying priority issues.
More specifically, after conducting a surveys of the natural environment surrounding seven business sites in Japan using public data and literature, we have begun extracting and assessing points of contact with nature, focusing first on our Omi Plant (Itoigawa, Niigata), which has 17 hydroelectric power plants in the nearby mountains and has the greatest contact with the natural environment.
Based on these surveys, we will analyze the risks and opportunities that face us in relation to the natural environment and take concrete measures to conserve biodiversity. In the near future, we will gradually expand the scope of our activities to other business sites and continue the cycle of the above activities with the aim of maintaining and improving the natural environment from a long-term perspective.

• *The process of systematic, evidence-based assessment advocated by TNFD for companies to disclose nature-related risks and opportunities. It consists of four phases (Locate, Evaluate, Assess and Prepare).

3. Initiatives Related to Eco-Friendly Products

Carbonization agent “LEAF”

Taking advantage of special cement additive technologies we have nurtured over many years, we have developed “LEAF,” a carbonization agent made using ingredients derived from industrial waste. “LEAF” vigorously converts CO₂ into chemically stable calcium carbonate. When “LEAF” is mixed into CO₂-SUICOM, an eco-friendly concrete co-developed by Denka, the Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., Kajima Corporation and LANDES Co., Ltd., the resulting concrete absorbs CO₂ via carbonization as it hardens. Employing a combination of these products, we will help reduce net CO₂ emissions attributable to cement manufacturing.

Electronic circuit substrate “SN Plate”

Denka’s “SN Plate” is a ceramic substrate boasting superiority in terms of heat conductivity and toughness. With a heat conductivity approximately four times of that of alumina, SN Plate is based on Si3N4, a silicon nitride characterized by superior resilience and mechanical properties. Thanks to improved heat conductivity in addition to its mechanical properties, SN Plate is used as substrate for lightweight power modules used for EV, railcar and other applications requiring high reliability. In anticipation of the accelerated popularization of EVs in the automotive industry, we will contribute our material technologies to support this trend and thereby help reduce CO₂ emissions attributable to this industry.

Aiming to Achieve “Net Zero” in Terms of CO₂ Emissions by Fiscal 2050 While Striving to Reduce Emissions by 50% by Fiscal 2030 from the Fiscal 2013 Level

The Denka Group strives to achieve carbon neutrality, that is, “net zero” in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by the end of fiscal 2050, with the aim of contributing to the realization of goals of the Paris Agreement, an international framework agreed upon by major countries to preserve the natural environment so that human society and natural ecosystems can remain viable into the future. To this end, we will strive to push ahead with energy saving while promoting the use of renewable energy, such as hydroelectric power generation. In addition, we will take on the challenge of technological innovation in Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), which is the separation and collection of CO₂ emitted by plant facilities, as well as in hydrogen-fired power generation and other clean energy technologies. Furthermore, with the aim of curbing the volume of GHG emissions from our business bases and contributing to decarbonization throughout society, we will promote the development and provision of eco-friendly products and technologies designed to reduce environmental burden while stepping up resource recycling via the introduction of a novel method for plastic recycling.