Lack of purified water due to insufficient infrastructure management as well as drought and flood damage due to climate change are becoming serious social problems. Toshiba Group, encompassing many businesses, has businesses with large impacts on water resources and other natural capital.* In addition, since our sites are located in various regions around the world, response to “water risks” is an important issue in our environmental management. Therefore, we assess and analyze “water risks” that affect corporate activities and are working to strengthen water risk management.
- The impacts of each business on natural capital (especially water resources) are assessed using the MST tool, which is a tool for conducting materiality analysis of 12 impact categories within 5 issue areas, including changes in the use of ecosystems; exploitation of resource such as water; climate change; pollution; and invasive species, per sector.
Water Risk Assessment
Regarding all Toshiba Group production sites in Japan and abroad (approximately 60 sites), we assess water risks by categorizing them into “water quantity (water resource, groundwater resource, and drought) risks,” “water quality risks,” “flood risks,” and “regulatory and reputational risks.”
In this assessment, we first conducted the primary assessment using “Aqueduct”, a water risk assessment tool run by the World Resources Institute (WRI), along with implementation of a questionnaire survey of the target sites and analysis of hazard maps to supplement the assessment results, in order to obtain and develop data for each site. Through this process, we assessed the water risks of river basins (external factor assessment) on a five-point scale (very High/High/Medium/Low/very Low).
Next, from the sites with a high risk level identified as “very High” or “High” in the external factor assessment results, we chose high priority sites (Priority 1 to 4) taking into consideration the business impact level (Category 1 to 5) based on major indicators, including the amount of water withdrawal, amount of water discharged, and output, then finally extracted sites with high water risks.
Water Risk Assessment Process
Classification of high-risk Sites
Assessment Results
The following shows the assessment results by water risk.
Assessment Results
Of the target sites, the six sites listed in the table below were extracted as Priority 1. These sites are already working to reduce risks by reducing water withdrawal, introducing appropriate wastewater treatment process, and taking BCP measures, etc.
By minimizing water risks mainly at high-risk sites extracted in the assessment, Toshiba Group will contribute to resolving water issues in various areas through the provision of products and services that contribute to reducing water risks.
| Country | Content assessed as high risk | |
|---|---|---|
| Site A | Japan | Water resource risks, drought risks |
| Site B | Japan | Regulatory and reputational risks related to wastewater quality, flood risks |
| Site C | Japan | Flood risks |
| Site D | Japan | Flood risks |
| Site E | Japan | Flood risks |
| Site F | The Philippines | Drought risks, regulatory and reputational risks related to wastewater quality |
| Country | Content assessed as high risk | |
|---|---|---|
| Site A | Japan | Water resource risks, drought risks |
| Site B | Japan | Regulatory and reputational risks related to wastewater quality, flood risks |
| Site C | Japan | Flood risks |
| Site D | Japan | Flood risks |
| Site E | Japan | Flood risks |
| Site F | The Philippines | Drought risks, regulatory and reputational risks related to wastewater quality |
Case Studies of Water Risk Initiatives
Risk reduction activities at sites
Case: Reducing the Volume of Water Used through the Effective Use of Rainwater
Toshiba JSW Power Systems Pvt., Ltd.
Toshiba JSW Power Systems Pvt. Ltd. (Toshiba JSW) has been reducing the volume of water used by utilizing rainwater and reusing treated water.
The company stores rainwater in a pond and uses the water for various uses, such as sprinkling water for plants in the premises, cooling water for manufacturing processes, and water for flushing toilets.
The rainwater storage pond is cleaned regularly so that the quality of water is maintained. The rainwater falling on the factory building roofs is not wasted either; the rainwater is once stored in the rainwater tank equipped with a monitor to grasp the water level. The monitor allows us to transfer the rainwater to the pond before it overflows from the tank. Through the use of rainwater, Toshiba JSW reduced 15,000 m3 water used annually.
Case: Reducing purity of water for outside air conditioners and air washers for humidification for clean room
Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corporation
Kaga Toshiba Electronics focuses on manufacturing power semiconductors, which control current and voltage in particular, among the transistor and diode elements known as discrete semiconductors. A lot of water is used in the manufacturing process.
To maintain suitable temperature and humidity for semiconductor manufacturing inside a clean room, the operation of an air conditioners is essential. Before taking outside air into the air conditioner, the outside air is processed in the outside air conditioner and fed into the air conditioner, thereby reducing the load on the air conditioner and saving energy. Pure water constantly flowing through the air washer* in the outdoor air conditioner to humidify the outdoor air and send it to the air conditioner. The amount of pure water is linked to the humidity in the clean room and optimised, resulting in reducing the amount of water received. (Annual reduction amount: 2,383 m3/year)
- Air washer: A device that removes air contaminants with water and at the same time humidifying the air.
![[Image] Reducing purity of water for outside air conditioners and air washers for humidification for clean room](/content/toshiba/ww/environment/corporate/ecology/water-risk/_jcr_content/root/contentsArea/mainarea/layoutcontainer_copy_1805814330/layoutcontainer/image_copy.coreimg.png/1696384849113/jirei-clean.png)
Contribution of Toshiba Group products and services
Case: Sustainable wastewater ZLD system
Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation
In emerging countries with rapid population growth and economic development in urban areas, water pollution is becoming more serious year by year. Along with the growing need to improve the quality of wastewater and to preserve the water environment, laws and regulations are being strengthened to achieve a healthy water cycle.
To mitigate water pollution risks at rivers and to utilize effectively water resources through wastewater recycling and reuse, Toshiba Group offers a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system to eliminate the discharge of wastewater from manufacturing plants.
ZLD systems consists of the reverse osmosis (RO) part to concentrate and separate impurities in wastewater and collect reclaimed wastewater and the evaporation part to evaporate the concentrate to obtain dry solid waste, reducing the amount of wastewater discharged outside the system to zero.
Using ZLD systems prevents water pollution of public waters and reduces water intake from outside to address the issues of water depletion and water resource pollution.
Toshiba’s ZLD systems improves the RO water recovery percentage from 80% to 95% with specific scaling/fouling prevention measures, resulting in the energy consumption reduction for evaporation to approximately one-fourth, thus halving GHG emissions. *
- Estimated results based on actual introduction at an Indian automobile site
- ZLD:Solutions for Industrial Field (Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions)
Overview of the process flow of a ZLD system
Wastewater Samples of an Automobile Manufacturing Plant