Furukawa Electric Group has incorporated the promotion of resource conservation and recycling into the Basic Environmental Policy and has been working to reduce waste, minimize the use of resources, and recycle.
To accelerate our efforts to promote the use of recycled materials and minimize the impact on ecosystem throughout the value chain, as stated in the Furukawa Electric Group Environmental Vision 2050, we revised the Environmental Targets 2030 in FY2021 and set a reduction target for the single-use plastics used. In this way, we are promoting new initiatives for resource recycling related to plastics to address the growing problem of marine plastic pollution, etc.
In order to keep contributing to a resource recycling society, we will strengthen our management of resource cycling and work on more efficient use of resources, while considering the mutual impact of climate change, biodiversity, etc.

Environmental Policy/Environmental Vision2050/Environmental Targets 2030

Activities to make effective use of metals and plastics in FY2023 included increasing the use of recycled materials and reducing the use of new materials (copper, aluminum, steel, and plastic). The amount of new materials used per unit of sales was reduced by 26% (Furukawa Electric) compared to FY2020. The amount of single-use plastics used was also reduced by 6% (Furukawa Electric) compared to FY2020.

In response to environmental changes surrounding waste from plastic-using products in Japan and overseas, there is a need to promote resource recycling of plastic products, including rationalizing plastic product use.
Against this background, the Group focuses on product design stage, packaging design stage, and waste processing stage of the value chain and is promoting activities in the following three areas.

 ・To reduce the use of new materials

 ・To identify and reduce the amount of disposable plastic packaging 

 ・To reduce the total amount of plastic waste generated

We will minimize the impact on the environment through these initiatives.

Reduction of use of new plastic materials and single-use plastics

We worked to reduce the use of new plastic materials and developed products that use 100% recycled polypropylene in FY2022. In addition, we have been developing individual packaging using biodegradable biomass materials as an initiative to reduce the use of single-use plastics.

Reduction of total amount of plastic waste generated

We have begun the initiative in FY2022 and set the target for FY2023. The total volume of plastic waste generated by Furukawa Electric was 3,630t in FY2023, which was 14.3% decrease from FY2021.

Furukawa Electric Ecotec Co., Ltd. (FETEC), one of our group companies, is in the business of recycling waste electric wires and optical cables by separating them into metal and plastic. FETEC has an established system for collecting waste electric wires, and almost 100% of metals such as copper, which is a conductive material, are recycled. The coating material is also recycled from recycled plastic back into the wire coating. In addition, FETEC is developing technologies to improve the accuracy of material separation and pursuing application technologies to expand the effective use of recycled products, and is continuing to take on the challenge of reducing the waste of wires and cables to as close to "zero" as possible.

Since around 1990, Furukawa Electric has actively worked to use recycled materials including cable waste and plastic packaging and containers. In 2019, The Company developed a single-process technology for upcycling difficult-to-recycle disposable plastic products and wastepaper into reinforced plastic. Cellulose fiber, the main component of paper, and plastic typically do not blend well, but when utilising Furukawa Electric’s Advanced Paper Fibre Upcycling (APFU) technology to break down the paper into loose cellulose fibers while blending it with plastic, it is possible to upcycle these materials into plastic with about twice the strength as the original plastic. With the aim of expanding the use of the technology, we are partnering with government agencies in Japan and abroad, as well as the plastic and recycling industries. For example, Furukawa Electric participates in WIPO GREEN, a platform for technology exchange related to environmental conservation operated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of the United Nations, and has registered the technology. By promoting technology exchange through the use of intellectual property, we will contribute to the spread of environment-related technologies.

The Group works on recycling copper which is the main raw material. Our group companies collect copper from used wires and cables collected from customers. The Copper Foil Division uses this 100% recycled copper as a raw material to produce electrolytic copper foil.

Completed UL 2809 validation for copper foil containing 100% recycled copper

In FITEL Products Division, we developed individual packaging made of biodegradable pulp, which is available for precision instruments, with collaboration with our suppliers. We started switching to use it from plastic packaging and will reduce the amount of single-use plastic disposed of after transportation, thereby promoting effective use of resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions during disposal.

The Group participates in the following initiatives for resource conservation.