Ensuring of Environmental Risk Management and Compliance

We, Toshiba Group, pursue the highest standard of compliance management in environmental management operations that relate to our business activities, products, and services.

Corporate staff divisions draft and formulate Group-wide policies and regulations related to environmental compliance management. In accordance with such policies and regulations, each Group company sets its compliance management items to be observed by its business divisions and sites, and executes its business.
In addition, corporate staff divisions conduct in-house environmental audits to meticulously check whether environmental policies are in place and how relevant laws and regulations are managed at key Group companies, business divisions, and sites on a regular basis. This helps us identify potential environmental risks and implement measures to prevent environmental incidents and violations of laws.
If a major environmental risk is identified, the Risk Compliance Committee, chaired by the executive officer in charge of the Legal Division, discusses preventive measures to be taken. If any environmental risk should materialize, all the concerned parties, including environmental promotion managers and related persons of relevant Group companies and sites, will work together under the direction of the executive in charge of environment to take preventive measures, check relevant business and production sites as well as consider recurrence prevention measures.

To manage environmental risks and ensure compliance, we make the most of opportunities such as Company-wide environmental education, environmental auditor certification training, and the Corporate Environmental Management Committee meeting to share the latest trends in laws and regulations, incidents occurred within the Group, and audit results for each Group company, business division, and site. This has contributed to raising the awareness of compliance.

• Risk Management and Compliance

At the time of establishing a new business; relocating, selling, or withdrawing from a business; investing in equipment; or using a new raw material or chemical, Toshiba Group ascertains whether there are any significant environmental impacts from the perspective of climate change and ecosystems and conducts a preliminary assessment (environmental assessment) with regard to legal and regulatory compliance items in order to avoid or reduce serious environmental impacts.

We, Toshiba Group, are pursuing the highest standard of compliance with environmental regulations and requirements that relate to our products and services. To this end, we implement control over the entire process, from development and design through to shipment, and ask our customers for their cooperation. For chemical substances in particular, we gather and assess the latest trends in policies and regulations around the world and incorporate the information into Toshiba Group's chemical substance management.

Toshiba Group manages chemical substances by ranking. At the same time, the Group works on soil and groundwater purification, and manages products using polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and ozone-depleting substances, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. In particular, we have independently set discharge/emission limits of chemical substances that are stricter than legal requirements in order to manage discharges/emissions into the water/air. Each site observes these limits.

Purification of soil and groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds

•  (A) groundwater pumping, (B) soil gas suction, (C) oxidation decomposition, (D) interception containment, (E) removal by excavating soil, and (F) bio-activation, (G) Permeable purification wall purification system (activated carbon)(from 2023)
• Amount collected from April 2023 to March 2024
• Monitoring of the contamination level after engineering work to remove contamination or the purification procedure is complete.
• Pumping was temporarily suspended due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, but resumed in FY2023.

Disposal policies

Enforcement of the Act on Special Measures concerning Promotion of Proper Treatment of PCB Wastes, obliges PCB waste storage business operators to dispose of PCB wastes properly by March 2027. As of March 31, 2023 and 2024, Toshiba Group recorded environmental liabilities of approximately 13.4 billion yen and 8 billion yen respectively as PCB detoxification outsourcing expenses. These expenses were incurred in relation to the disposal of products containing PCB that were stored and managed in business and productions sites nationwide and their facilities. We will continue to grasp and disclose such information properly.

Toshiba Group possesses specified chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which deplete the ozone layer, as coolant for air conditioners installed in sites; we appropriately dispose of such CFCs in compliance with the law. In FY2023, we reduced the amount of specified CFCs to 142 tons. Our CFC leaks stipulated in the Fluorocarbons Emissions Control Act were 966 t-CO₂ in FY2023. We will continue to further enhance our management of chemicals through routine and periodic inspections as well as environmental audits.