Furukawa Electric Group has set "Contribute to society in harmony with nature" as part of its Environmental Vision 2050 and is promoting initiatives to minimize the impact of chemical substances on ecosystems through value chain management, including raw materials.

The Group considers the entire product lifecycle, from raw material procurement to disposal, and strives to reduce the environmental impact of chemical substances. In manufacturing processes, we properly manage the chemical substances used and work to suppress the emission of hazardous chemical substances into the environment. Additionally, for chemical substances contained in products, we address customer requirements and comply with relevant laws and regulations by managing chemical substances from the design and development stages.

We confirm the handling precautions and applicable laws and regulations for chemical substances used in Furukawa Electric Group manufacturing processes using GHS labels and SDS (safety data sheet), and manage these substances accordingly. Additionally, we work to ascertain the amounts of substances handled, transferred, and released in accordance with the PRTR Law^*.

Based on domestic regulations such as the Air Pollution Control Law, we have set targets for reducing VOC emissions (per unit of net sales) at our sites in Japan to reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. In FY2024, domestic emissions increased due to higher production volumes, but the emission intensity per unit of sales decreased by 1% compared with the previous year. Moving forward, we will continue to suppress emissions in production processes and reduce the use of targeted substances.

The Group has participated in JAMP^*1 since 2009, and implement group-wide environmental inspections based on the latest information from the management target substance list of chemSHERPA^*2 by JAMP, regarding management of chemical substances contained in products. We also monitor trends in laws and regulations covering the chemical substances contained in products and accumulate and update data as it becomes available, allowing us to respond promptly to customer requests.

The Group has established a system for managing chemical substances contained in products at its major bases and group companies. We understand tightened regulations on environmental products and environmental risks that need to be mitigated, and take measures depending on their significance.
In response to compliance with REACH Regulation by EU, which is environmental regulations, in FY2024 we have conducted an environmental inspection of our products for the presence of 247 substances up to the 32th update of SVHC list of REACH. Additionally, we respond to chemSHERPA to meet customers’ requirements for disclosure of chemical substances.

Furukawa Electric Group has outlined specific requests to suppliers regarding the management of chemical substances contained in products, such as raw materials, parts, and intermediate products, in the Furukawa Electric Group Green Procurement Guideline^*. We request that suppliers establish a management system for chemical substances contained in products and appropriately manage the chemical substances in supplied products. The management target substances are based on the latest version of the chemSHERPA management target substance list, and we procure materials that comply with the laws and regulations of the countries and regions where the Group’s products are marketed, as well as standards required by industry organizations and customers.