News Release Archives

Since 1993, the Mitsubishi Electric Group has adopted a new environmental plan every three years to set medium-term targets and policies, and each year, the Group reports the results of its activities of the past year.

The report launched today outlines the operations of Mitsubishi Electric and its 114 domestic and 68 overseas affiliates and their efforts to contribute to low-carbon, recycling-oriented societies through group-wide environmental activities. A few examples are presented below.

CO2 emissions from manufacturing operations reduced to 933,000 tons (achieved target)
Group-wide CO2 emissions from manufacturing operations in the fiscal year ending March 2012 were reduced to 933,000 tons, surpassing the Group's target of 955,000 tons. This was due to improved productivity and installations of photovoltaic systems, real-time energy control and other power saving equipment.

The Group's Sixth Environmental Plan, covering FYs 2010-2012, emphasized installation and effective use of photovoltaic systems as well as more efficient cooling and lighting systems. It also focused on CO2 reductions through energy improvements in the production process, as well as real-time energy control of individual lines and equipment by using Mitsubishi Electric's energy measuring unit EcoMonitor and energy-saving data collection server EcoServer. As a result, the Group reduced a total of 106,000 tons in CO2 emissions over the three years, with 59,000 tons resulting from equipment upgrades and 47,000 tons resulting from improvements on production lines.

In the Mitsubishi Electric Group's Environmental Vision 2021, the Group has set a long-term target of reducing total CO2 emissions from manufacturing operations by 30 percent compared with the fiscal year ending March 1991. In the current Seventh Environmental Plan, the Group aims to further reduce CO2 emissions by 121,000 tons by March 2015.

Amount of CO2 emissions and reductions from manufacturing operations (In kilo tons)

The 6th Environmental Plan FY2010 - FY2012 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 Target Results Results Results Target Results CO2 emissions Mitsubishi Electric 510 504 472 508 510 504 Domestic affiliates 190 160 166 191 190 160 Overseas affiliates 260 269 217 267 255 269 Total 960 933 855 966 955 933 CO2 reductions† within the three year plan Mitsubishi Electric 48 64 19 22 16 23 Domestic affiliates 21 19 7 5 8 7 Overseas affiliates 26 23 8 8 10 7 Total 95 106 34 35 34 37 † : Amount of CO2 reductions needed to achieve the targeted volume of CO2 emissions

CO2 emissions from 84 eco-products reduced 26 percent on average (achieved target)
In addition to efforts targeting the Group's production operations, Mitsubishi Electric is also working to reduce CO2 emissions generated by 84 of its wide range of products. In fiscal 2012, these 84 products averaged 26 percent fewer emissions compared to figures from the fiscal year ending in March 2001, exceeding the original target of 25 percent.

According to Mitsubishi Electric estimates, CO2 emissions from the end use of products are 40-50 times greater than the emissions generated in manufacturing these products. Considering that greener performance of such products could greatly contribute to low-carbon societies, the Mitsubishi Electric Group has set a target to reduce CO2 emissions from product usage by 30 percent in its Environmental Vision 2021.

In the current Seventh Environmental Plan, the Group aims to reduce the emissions generated by the 84 products a further percentage point.

Zero-emissions final waste disposal at all consolidated locations in Japan
In fiscal 2012, Mitsubishi Electric's unconsolidated final disposal volume, the amount of waste sent directly to landfill divided by the total amount of waste and saleable materials generated, was 82,000 tons, a final disposal rate of just 0.002 percent, far exceeding the initial target of under 0.1 percent. The company has now achieved zero emissions and a final disposal rate lower than 0.1 percent for eight consecutive years. In addition, the Japanese affiliates have achieved zero emissions for the second consecutive year with a final disposal volume of 60,000 tons and a rate of 0.02 percent.

In order to best utilize limited natural resources, each production site in Japan cooperates with other nearby sites, including those of affiliated companies, in waste management, reusing waste such as plastic, oil, batteries and wood. In fiscal 2012, Mitsubishi Electric succeeded in further promoting this recycling logistics initiative throughout the Kansai, Kyushu, Kanto and Chubu regions.

For overseas operations, it is important to make plans in line with the regulations or waste disposal conditions in each country or region. The fiscal 2012 final disposal volume for affiliates overseas was 58,000 tons, and its 1.6 percent rate beat the company's target of under 3 percent by a wide margin. This achievement was facilitated by the exchange of zero-emission case studies at regional affiliate meetings.

In the current Seventh Environmental Plan, the Group will continue its successful efforts and aim to achieve a final disposal rate lower than 0.1 percent at all consolidated locations worldwide.