The DOWA group is engaged in environmental business, including recycling resources and processing wastes in a proper manner, rendering them harmless, stabilizing them and destroying COC and HCFC.
We evaluated the effects of these activities over society and the environment by using the concept of External Economical Benefit Evaluation (EEBE®)1.
Among items we accept from customers, sludge (14,000 t increase compared to the previous year), waste alkali (21,000 t increase) and used oil subject to special management (1,000 t increase) mainly increased in 2010. EEBE through detoxification was found higher than EEBE through reduction of the volume.
| Effect | Accepted volume of industrial wastes | Final landfill disposal volume | Unit of social cost | EEBE® |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volume reduction | Industrial wastes not requiring special control 736,000 t/year |
Burnt ashes 240,000 t/year |
Unit price of controlled final disposal site 15,000 yen/t |
(Industrial wastes not requiring special control - Burnt ashes) × Unit price of controlled final disposal site 7,000 million yen/year (6% increase from the previous year) |
| Rendering harmless | Industrial wastes requiring special control 140,000 t/year |
Ash dust 78,000 t/year |
Unit price of isolated final disposal site 200,000 yen/t |
(Industrial wastes requiring special control – Fly ash) × Unit price of isolated type final disposal site 12,000 million yen/year (33% decrease compared to the previous year) |
| Total | 19,000 million yen/year (24% decrease compared to the previous year) | |||
In evaluation of the EEBE of our metal recycling, we included both the metal value of recovered metals (calculated using LME price as international quoted market price) and the effect of expanding the life of landfill disposal site through reducing the volume of waste that contain metals. In 2010, we collected 1,200 t of zinc derived from recycled materials in connection with the operation of Akita Zinc Recycling. Among collected materials, ferric oxide increased (3,000 t). Although the collected amount of gold and sliver decreased, EEBE® increased due to the metal price increase.
| Effect | Amount of recycled metal materials used | Final landfill disposed volume | Unit of social cost | EEBE® |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volume reduction | 90,000 t/year | 900 t/year | (Unit price of controlled final disposal site) 15,000 yen/t |
(Total accepted volume of recycled raw materials and final landfill volume) ×Unit price of controlled final disposal site 1,300 million yen/year (13% decrease form the previous year) |
| Effect | Recovered volume | LME price (as of March 31, 2008). As of March 30, 2011 for indium | EEBE® |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery of gold | 5,800 kg/year | 3,800,000 yen/kg | 22,000 Million yen/year (10% increases from the previous year) |
| Recovery of silver | 350,000 kg/year | 100,000 yen/kg | 35,000 Million yen/year (59% increases from the previous year) |
| Recovery of copper | 8,400 t/year | 830,000 yen/t | 6,900 Million yen/year (9% decrease from the previous year) |
| Recovery of lead | 22,000 t/year | 260,000 yen/t | 5,700 Million yen/year (3% decrease from the previous year) |
| Recovery of zinc | 1,200 t/year | 240,000 yen/t | 200 Million yen/year (3900% increase from the previous year) |
| Recovery of palladium | 1,200 kg/year | 2,000,000 yen/kg | 2,400 Million yen/year (41% increase from the previous year) |
| Recovery of indium | 210,000 kg/year | 57,000 yen/kg | 11,900 Million yen/year (19% increase from the previous year) |
| ���v | 32,000 t/year | 84,000 Million yen/year (25% increase from the previous year) |
Regarding the evaluation of effects of preventing destruction of the Ozone layer and global warming, we have adopted the LIME (Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on Endpoint modeling)2 to convert these effects into EEBE®. The amount of processed CFC-11 increased in some of our companies that started accepting heat insulation COC from home electric appliance recycling plants. These mainly contributed to expanding EEBE.
| Effect by destroying CFC and HCFC | EEBE® |
|---|---|
| Impact on global warming Impact on destruction of the Ozone layer |
310 million yen/year (47% increase from the previous year) 310 million yen/year (82% increase from the previous year) |
| Total | 620 million yen/year (63% increase from the previous year) |
*1 EEBE® refers to quantitative index that evaluates business activities, by converting a specific monetary value the effects that a company strives and achieves to reduce environmental load. The intermediate corporation Club ECOFACTURE consisting of the four largest auditing firms, large enterprises and university professors are studying this index.
*2 LIME refers to “Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on Endpoint modeling” that was developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and others. It is an index that evaluates impacts of substances on human health and social capital, considering their life-cycle.
*3 As for the EEBE® on destroying CFC and HCFC, we calculated the effect of preventing global warming and destruction of the Ozone layer targeted for CFCs for which LIME factors are set.
*4 In calculating EEBE®, only EEBE from our companies in Japan was included.
Environmental Group, First Consulting Department, InterRisk Research Institute & Consulting, Inc.
Manager and Chief Consultant: Masatoshi Inokari
The DOWA group publishes the results of EEBE® every year since the Environmental Report published in 2004. This is the eighth publication.
At present resource and energy prices are going up, and so are non-ferrous metal prices. For example, in this report, the unit price of copper is 830,000 yen (collected amount of 8,400 t/year), while it was 730,000 yen (10,000 t/year) in the last report. In the 2004 report when EEBE® was first published, the unit price of 370,000/t (15,000 t/year) was used for calculating EEBE®.
Now we see the increased importance of the main business of the DOWA group that recycles variable resources. We expect that DOWA not only publishes the calculation results of annual EEBE® but also their long-term trends with interpretation as you do with environmental performance data such as CO2.
