VOC is the general term for organic compounds that volatilize or become gas in the atmosphere. They include chemicals like thinners and alcohols widely used in factories. In addition to their effects on human health, VOCs are said to be the causative agents of suspended particulate matter and photochemical oxidants.

Fujikura and its Group companies set the FY2020 target of achieving at least a 5% improvement in the intensity of main volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions (per 100 million yen in net sales) compared to FY2015 (annual improvement of at least 1%) as the VOC emissions reduction goal in the Fujikura Group Environmental Management Activity Guidelines.

In FY2020, Fujikura and its Group companies reduced volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions to 47.9 tons, a 36.3% reduction compared to 75.2 tons emitted in FY2015. Intensity was 22.3 tons/100 million yen in net sales, achieving our goal with a 20.2% improvement compared to FY2015.

While we failed to achieve our target of at least a 4% improvement compared to FY2015 last fiscal year with only 2.4% improvement, this improvement resulted from efforts to (1) reduce the amount of ethanol used by improving the cleaning method of manufacturing equipment, (2) recover IPA from exhaust in the manufacturing process, (3) introduce alternatives for toluene used in cleaning manufacturing equipment, and (4) discontinue production of products using VOC.