Recognizing global warming as a top priority to be addressed
Global warming, which is confirmed to be worsening year after year, is considered a factor that contributes to extensive climate change that could seriously affect the future of mankind and the earth's ecosystems. Today, it is the global community's shared wish to control global warming. All companies are expected to fulfill their social responsibilities to actively work on the prevention of global warming.
With this in mind, the Brother Group, as a global company developing its business in different countries and regions across the world, recognizes commitment to preventing global warming as a top priority to be addressed. In particular, the Brother Group has worked on reducing the energy consumed by products while being used, when most CO2 emissions are generated in a product's life cycle. The Brother Group has been stepping up its efforts to develop products with the highest level energy-saving performance in the industry by 2015.
Respective business sites have been working to further enhance energy-saving activities while giving top priority to reducing CO2 emissions in all aspects of business operations, including the procurement of materials and parts, production, transportation of products, sales and service. They are also committed to actively introducing renewable energy and energy-saving equipment such as photovoltaic power generation and LED lighting.
In terms of external collaboration, further enhancement of "green procurement" based on a partnership with suppliers has been added as a target of the Brother Group 2015 Midterm Environmental Action Plan (2011-2015). The Brother Group has also been working to reduce CO2 emissions attributed to logistics by promoting the introduction of trailers with high load efficiency, optimization of routes, modal shift, and integration of spare parts warehouses, among others, in collaboration with logistics companies.
Meanwhile, it is necessary to further promote the recycling of resources and reductions in water consumption as the severity of resource depletion and water shortage increases partly due to economic development in emerging countries. Furthermore, the contamination risks posed by hazardous chemical substances to humans and the environment are too high to be ignored, so equipment manufacturers must strictly manage the chemical substances contained in products.
The Brother Group is committed to conserving energy, collecting and recycling resources, controlling the use of chemical substances, conserving water resources, and conserving biodiversity in manufacturing facilities and products, throughout its operations in various countries and regions. The Brother Group also continuously strives to minimize environmental impact and achieve sustainable development. Interactive environmental communications are actively encouraged to share understanding and awareness among all stakeholders about these activities.
Brother Group's efforts to reduce environmental impact
Major environmental impact of Brother's business operations
The Brother Group is engaged in the development, production, and sales of printers, multi-function centers, electronic stationery, home and industrial sewing machines, machine tools, online karaoke, and other products. While offering various convenient devices for daily life and business, these products do have an environmental impact, as shown in the diagram below, both during Brother's operations and utilization by customers. Therefore, the Brother Group develops comprehensive activities on an ongoing basis to minimize environmental impact.
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