What are the main green issues affecting manufacturers?

20 March 2007

Global Warming - rapid increase in the consumption of fossil fuels such as oil and coal seen after the industrial revolution has resulted in a rise in temperature, which exerts an influence over the ecosystem and increases wind and water damage. The emission of CO2, which represents a typical greenhouse gas, has been increasing since 1990, in ordinary households and in the transportation sector

Resource Depletion - Resources used for automobiles are roughly divided into oil and metal resources. For oil, which has been supporting the automobile society, the time remaining before depletion is being prolonged, but in view of increasing consumption, the absolute amount may decrease. For mineral resources, it is said that the amount presently mined per month greatly exceeds the total consumption of mineral resources before the beginning of the industrial revolution!

Ozone depletion - The ozone layer surrounding the earth absorbs most ultraviolet rays in the sunlight and thus protects the living creatures on the earth. The use of CFC-12 for automotive air conditioners, which destroys the ozone layer, was fully discontinued in 1995 but there is still a problem of how to collect and completely destroy CFC-12 from end-of-life air conditioners.

Air Polution - Air pollution is caused by carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and suspended particulate matters (SPMs), and the emission of these sub-stances should be reduced. In recent years, the emission from a single automobile has been remarkably reduced thanks to the development of exhaust gas cleaning technologies, but total emissions have remained on the same level due to an increase in the overall number of automobiles through the progress of motorization. For example, approximately 30% of areas do not meet the NOx emission standards according to data obtained from pollution monitoring stations located on roadsides.

Air, Water and Soil pollution - In the high economic growth period, it was required to take measures against dust and sulfur oxides (SOx) generated from fuels combusted in metal casting furnaces and against water pollutants contained in waste-water. Most of these pollutants have been considerably reduced thanks to the development of pollution prevention technologies. It is now required to reduce the environmental impacts caused by our production activities by reducing the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for drying paints for parts, properly managing the transfer of chemical substances used, and by reducing landfill waste.

Waste Polution - In recent years, the leaching of harmful substances from landfill sites has become a problem and people are increasingly demanding advanced waste disposal measures and opposing the construction of new landfill sites. On the other hand, waste disposal costs are rising, causing the illegal disposal of waste. Presently, approximately 5 million vehicles are wasted every year as end-of-life vehicles, around 70 to 80% of which are recycled. The remaining 20% or so are shredded and such shredder residue also needs to be reduced.