Water
Basic Approach
FANUC Headquarters is located in the rich natural environment adjacent to the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, and we use the clean and abundant groundwater of Mt. Fuji as a water source. The groundwater pumped from 80 meters below is stable in terms of both volume and quality throughout the year. We can say that FANUC is blessed with water resources, and has almost no risk of water shortages.
However, we are well conscious of the fact that, there are water shortages in other parts of the world, and the United Nations Environment Programme has reported that water shortages will become even more severe in some regions by 2025.
FANUC, therefore is working to conserve water resources, such as through daily water recycling, effluent purification treatment, and water quality management.
In order to discharge higher quality wastewater, we comply with regulated amounts of water pollutants.
Promotion Framework
FANUC recognizes addressing the conservation of water resources r as an important issue, with the President and CEO designated as the person responsible for the related initiatives.
Important subjects relating to these resource conservation issues are reported to the board after discussions and summarizations in our environmental management and promotion committee meetings.
Environmental Management Promotion
Risk Assessment for Water Resources
FANUC conducts water risk assessments at production sites using World Resources Institute (WRI) Aqueduct.
The FANUC Group's major production sites are located in Japan: the Headquarters Factory (Oshino-mura, Minamitsuru-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture), Mibu Factory (Mibu, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture), Tsukuba Factory (Chikusei City, Ibaraki Prefecture), and Hayato Factory (Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture).
Based on the Aqueduct analysis, there were no production sites with high water risk.
Initiatives in Our Headquarters Area
25 factories are located in FANUC Headquarters, all of which use groundwater when required for production. In addition, our factories reuse the water they have used for production for cooling and other purposes. When discharging sewage, we conduct partial purification to adjust the pH value, striving to ensure high effluent standards.
Reusing Water
| Cyclical use of cooling water | We circulate and reuse the cooling water that is used to cool the production equipment in the die-cast factory at Headquarters. |
|---|---|
| Reusing wastewater | In our ROBOT factory No. 1 at Headquarters, 92% of wastewater is reused by utilizing oil-water separators. In our servo motor parts machining factories No. 1 and 2 at Headquarters, we reuse 19% of wastewater by making full use of distillation and regeneration equipment. In the future, our new factory (servo motor parts machining factory No.3) is expected to be able to reuse nearly 90% of wastewater by increasing the efficiency of wastewater use. |
| Reusing machining liquid | In our ROBOCUT factory at Headquarters, we plan to introduce a new machining liquid tank dedicated to testing, in order to enable 90% reuse of the machining liquid (water) for testing during manufacturing. |
Collaboration with Suppliers
Because water resources are used by our suppliers in the process of cooling castings and by our customers in the process of using our products and systems, indirect use of water resources is also an important issue.
FANUC, therefore, are asking suppliers to adopt our CSR Procurement Policy, and to promote the efficient use and cyclical use of water resources.
A total of twelve companies, namely two manufacturing subsidiaries and ten suppliers whose sales to FANUC account for more than 30% of their total sales, are surveyed once a year on specific matters such as water consumption and water emissions. The results are then quantified for evaluation, based on which risks are identified and assessed. We select the top three companies that are defined as significant, set specific goals for reducing the environmental load of their production, and encourage them to take steps toward those goals. In the event of significant changes in the numbers, we check the reasons for those changes and provide advice, as necessary.