The Fujikura Group performs environmental assessments of products in the product planning, development, and design stages to evaluate the environmental friendliness of each product throughout its entire lifecycle to improve environmental performance.

Products that meet the standards are certified as "green products" or "green mind products". Our target is to register at least 60 environmentally friendly products every year.

Nishi Nippon Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd., a Fujikura Group company, joined in these activities for the first time in FY2020. We will pursue joint activities with other group companies in the future.

The Green Product Management Committee screens the lifecycle assessment check sheets submitted by the business divisions and registers products that meet the predefined criteria as Green Mind Products.

The lifecycle assessment check sheet was established in 2011 and has been updated regularly ever since.

The Green Product Management Committee is chaired by a member of the research and development division and consists of members selected from each business division.

In FY2020, Group companies registered a total of 64 new products as Green Mind products, bringing the total number registered to more than 730. We are maintaining Green-related products (Green Mind products + Green products) as a percentage of total sales at around 40%.

Applications: FTTx and optical cables for large-scale data centers.

Environmentally Friendly: 6912-core WTC® (Wrapping Tube Cable®) cable, composed of SWR® (Spider Web Ribbon®) with 200 μm Φ fiber, has been newly registered as a green product. 6912 optical fibers are contained in this ultra high-density cable. The new product is thin and lightweight, with an outer diameter of 35.0 mm and a mass of 765 kg/km. Compared to the conventional 2 x 3456-core optical cable using 250 µm Φ fiber, the weight and outer diameter have been reduced by more than 30%. In addition to saving resources by reducing the number of materials used, the new cable is expected to contribute to CO2 reduction by improving product manufacturing efficiency and transportation efficiency.

Applications: Low-profile component-embedded boards (ultra-compact electronic modules) with built-in IC chips for use in wearable devices and medical/healthcare equipment.

Environmental Considerations: The volume of the module has been reduced by 50% by embedding the IC, which has the largest area among the components, in the substrate and mounting the other components on the surface. In addition to minimizing the amount of materials used, an environmentally friendly manufacturing process is employed that reduces the use of chemicals and high temperature processing. This product has been certified as a green product.

Application: Automotive wiring harnesses

Environmentally Friendly: By adopting retainer-less connectors, the weight is reduced by 10% and the man-hours required for connector assembly are halved compared to conventional products. The weight reduction and improved workability contribute to the promotion of energy conservation during product manufacturing.

Applications: Superconducting magnets (industrial, academic, medical)

Environmentally Friendly: Rare-earth high-temperature superconducting wires have excellent critical current characteristics in high magnetic fields and are mainly used in magnet applications. By applying high-temperature superconductivity, it is expected that superconducting magnets will become smaller, lighter, and have higher current density, thereby contributing to a reduction in environmental impact.