It has been our important objective to reduce the amount of disposable waste to be discharged.

 

In our ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER established in April, 1993, we have set our goal to reduce the waste materials by 40 percent by 1997 from the level of 1991.

 

We have been making our utmost effort to meet the goal, however, it becomes an urgent need for our industry from the global environmental standpoint to restructure a manufacturing system with a RECYCLING CONCEPT of reducing the waste materials discharge as well as to generate our own-use raw material by reforestation, and to develop new products by effectively utilizing the given raw materials.

 

In this point of view, our company has determined to start the ZERO DISCHARGE campaign deployed as a company policy to reduce the waste material in a company wide scale from April, 1997 as a supplementing action plan of the Environmental Charter.

 

Presently, each mill is working on its own target, however, as a rule of thumb, the following higher standard than the initial level set in the Environmental Charter is proposed.

 

Target:	The waste materials to be discharged should be less than 1 percent of total paper production by 1998, which is equivalent to approximately 90 percent reduction from the 1991 level.
Disposable amount:	Approximately 250,000 dry tons as a proposed level in 1991 Approximately 150,000 dry tons as the current level in 1995
Types of main waste materials:	Coal ash, ash of burned mill waste, sludge from waste water, residual wood.

 

Specific guidelines

1. To reduce the amount of fiber discharged through the process of water treatment, and to reduce the sludge volume as much as possible.

2. The coal ash has been utilized as a raw material for cement, however, further effort is to be made to increase the volume of utilization, and create the new application.

3. To generate a new type of packaging material to recycle the disposable packaging waste, and to control the amount of waste, and to improve utilization by separating the type of waste for recycle.

 

As it is so important to improve the awareness of individual employee as to protect the environment, an education program is to be developed in the area of how the disposable waste materials is being handled and treated at each working place in order to successfully implement the proposed ZERO DISCHARGE CAMPAIGN.