About Specified Businesses
1 SMC is designated as a Specified Business under the Act on Rationalizing Energy Use. Furthermore, our Soka 1st Factory, Tsukuba 1st Factory, Tsukuba Technical Centre, Kamaishi Factory, Kamaishi 4th Factory, Tono Factory and Yamatsuri Factory are designated as Designated Energy Management Factories as the energy consumption at each factory for a given business year is 1,500 kL (crude oil equivalent) or more.
2 Specified Businesses and Designated Energy Management Factories are obliged to establish targets to reduce their energy consumption by 1 % or greater per year, as well as to manage energy consumption on an organizational basis and submit periodic reports.
Reduction of industrial wastes
SMC practices strict waste sorting and promotes the 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
SMC sells computers and printers, which are no longer used, as material of value to recycle operators and reducing its waste disposal costs.
Sorted Material Examples: plastic waste, paper, vinyl chloride, rubber, noncombustible items, corrugated boards, etc.
Material balance
SMC keeps track of the environmental burdens generated through consumption of resources and energy during the design, development and manufacturing of its products.
Designated as a large-scale facility
A regulation regarding annual energy consumption is stipulated in a plan to prevent climate change set forth under Saitama Prefecture’s ordinance. Facilities with energy consumption that exceeds the equivalent of 1500 kL of crude oil per year for three consecutive years are designated as a large-scale facility and are required to reduce their energy consumption. SMC’s Soka 1st Factory was designated as a large scale facility in FY2019 as its energy consumption exceeded the equivalent of 1500 kL for three consecutive years in FY2016–2018.
Initiatives at each factory
SMC uses flow switches, its own products, to monitor the air flow rates at each factory to enable early detection of air leaks due to equipment failure. SMC is also working on improving energy efficiency. Its effort include the use of mechanisms that automatically shut off the air source during plant downtime, which reduced the use of purge air by 30 % (compared to our conventional operation).
Green procurement
SMC recognizes that conservation of the global environment is a common issue for all humanity and a matter that demands the consideration of management.
SMC will develop and supply environmentally friendly products in order to continually reduce the environmental burdens in accordance with its basic philosophy: “SMC strives to undertake environmental conservation activities through pneumatic technology that contributes to automation in all fields of industry in order to pass down a sustainable global environment to future generations”.
As part of its initiatives, SMC conducts green procurement of products, materials, components, semi-finished goods, secondary materials, and packaging materials used in the design, development and production process.
We care about ROHS Directive.
