Environmental Management
NSK’s Approach
A sense of crisis is growing over the advance of global warming and climate change, depletion of resources, chemical pollution of air and water, and loss of biodiversity. All of humanity faces the challenge of learning to live sustainably while protecting the global environment. The NSK Group’s Mission Statement declares that NSK “helps protect the global environment.” With the environment as one of our core values, we carry out environmental activities to address global issues, contribute to the realization of a sustainable society, and improve our corporate value.
Policy
The NSK Group established the NSK Environmental Policy and the NSK Environmental Code of Conduct in 1997 to reflect its commitment, which spans all of its business operations, to help protect the global environment. In line with this policy, we strive to develop products and services that help reduce environmental impact, and our guiding principle is to practice business operations that seek to reduce environmental impact throughout the value chain.
In November 2021, we revised our Environmental Policy in light of growing international attention to environmental issues in recent years and rising expectations for corporate action to address these issues.
Envisioning what the NSK Group should look like in 2050, we have formulated a long-term environmental action plan with a target year of FY2026 by back-casting from our vision for the future. With global environmental management and environmental compliance as the foundation, we work hard to help resolve three social issues: the establishment of a carbon-neutral society, the establishment of a sound material-cycle society, and the establishment of an environmentally symbiotic society. By providing products like bearings that reduce energy loss, we will help to reduce society's overall environmental impact, and by reducing the environmental impact of the Group's business activities to net zero, we will support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
NSK Group Environmental Action Plan
Environmental Risks and Opportunities
In the effort to build a sustainable world, there are accelerating efforts to develop measures and regulations to reduce CO2 emissions, encourage resource circulation, and reduce environmentally harmful substances. In line with this, progress is being made in areas such as the electrification of automobiles. Doing its part, the NSK Group identifies and evaluates environmental opportunities and risks in each phase of the value chain and reflects these in its management strategy and environmental action plan to achieve continuous growth.
Material and Energy Balance
The NSK Group works with suppliers to reduce environmental impact via green procurement and other initiatives. We also strive to reduce the environmental impact of our customers and of society as a whole by providing environmentally friendly products.
Input and Output of Global Business Activities (FY2021 and 2022)
System
Environmental Promotion System
Each department implements various measures to achieve NSK’s environmental action plan and continuously monitors and evaluates its progress.
Initiatives related to the environment are regularly reported to the Core Values Committee. The Committee discusses policies to strengthen activities related to the environment, which is one of NSK’s core values, and considers related risks, so that it can suggest improvements to address issues. In particular, climate change-related matters are singled out from among environmental initiatives and are regularly reported to the Operating Committee and other committees by the Carbon Neutrality Department. This process facilitates discussions and resolutions on strategies, policies, and targets, as well as shared consideration of risks. Especially important measures undergo deliberations by the Operating Committee before being submitted to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors oversees the NSK Group’s environmental issues by approving or rejecting and commenting on reports and proposals from the Operating Committee.
*For more information on the Core Values Committee, please visit NSK’s Corporate Governance Structure.
Targets and Performance
Mid-Term Management Plan 2026 (MTP2026) Targets (FY2022–2026) and the FY2022 Targets and Performance （Environmental Action Plan）
| MTP2026 targets | FY2022 targets | FY2022 performance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental management | Maintain ISO 14001 certification at all subject sites | Maintain ISO 14001 certification at all subject sites | Maintained at all subject sites | |
| Obtain ISO 14001 certification within 3 years of starting full-scale operations at a site | No applicable site | ― | ||
| No serious violations of environmental laws and regulations | No serious violations of environmental laws and regulations | No serious violations of environmental laws and regulations | ||
| No serious incidents of environmental pollution | No serious incidents of environmental pollution | No serious incidents of environmental pollution | ||
| Creating environmentally friendly products | Create environmentally friendly products with a Neco score of 1.2 or higher (ongoing) | Continue with new developments (Develop more than 1 environmentally friendly product) | Developed 4 environmentally friendly products (total 243 products) | |
Avoid at least 3 million t-CO2 emissions during the use of NSK products | 2.60 million t-CO2 | 2.29 million t-CO2 | ||
| Fighting global warming and climate change | Manufacturing, technology, offices | CO2 emissions*: 50% reduction from FY2017 | 26.6% reduction from FY2017 | 43.6% reduction |
| Continue to reduce energy use per unit of sales by 1% year on year | Below 11.7% (base year FY2017) (1% reduction from FY2021) | -4.9% | ||
| Distribution (Japan) | CO2 emissions by transport volume: Continue to reduce by 1% year on year | Below 4% (base year FY2017) | 0.5% | |
| Resource conservation and recycling measures | Development and design, manufacturing | Reduce waste of materials by changing processing methods (ongoing) | Continue reduction initiatives | Improved material yield for target products |
| Manufacturing, technology, offices | Achieve a recycling rate of at least 99% | 99% or higher | 99.0% | |
Industrial waste per unit of sales: Continue to reduce by 1% year on year | Below 7.4% (base year FY2017) (1% reduction from FY2021) | -5.8% | ||
Water withdrawal per unit of sales: 9% reduction from FY2017 | Below -5% (base year FY2017) | -10.4% | ||
Distribution (Japan) | Packaging waste per production unit: Continue to reduce by 1% year on year | 1% reduction from FY2021 | 8.5% reduction | |
| Reducing use of environmentally harmful substances | Development and design, procurement, manufacturing | Full response to the 10 EU RoHS2 substances | Full response | Ensured full response in newly developed products Continued efforts to completely eliminate harmful substances in manufacturing processes |
| Procurement | Response rate for inclusion of substances on the NSK List of Environmentally Harmful Substances | Obtain responses from all target suppliers | In Japan: Maintained 100% Outside Japan: Obtained 84% | |
Manufacturing (Japan) | Handling of PRTR-designated substances per unit of sales: 1% reduction year on year | 1% or more reduction from FY2021 | 10.9% reduction | |
| Biodiversity conservation | Identify the factors in operations that could have a negative impact on biodiversity | Continue activities | Continue activities | |
| Expand social contribution activities related to biodiversity conservation | Continue activities | Initiated new satoyama conservation activities in Shizuoka Prefecture | ||
| Educate to deepen employee awareness of issues | Continue activities | Continue activities | ||
* Greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalent) are calculated by multiplying emissions from use of an amount of electricity, fuel, etc., by its respective global warming coefficient. In Japan, the global warming coefficients used are given in the Ministry of the Environment's and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Calculation and Reporting Manual. Outside Japan, the global warming coefficients used are released by electricity providers or given in the International Energy Agency’s CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion.
Initiatives
Global Environmental Management
- Acquiring and Maintaining Environmental Management Certification
The NSK Group implements the PDCA cycle for environmental management at all sites. Environmental initiatives are important at sites involved in development, design, manufacturing, and distribution because these processes have especially large environmental impacts. We require these sites to obtain external ISO 14001 certification—the international standard for environmental management systems—within three years of full-scale operation, such as the start of mass production. We increase the effectiveness of our management system globally to ensure continuous improvement, obtaining certifications for each site and undergoing regular reviews by third-party organizations.
Environmental Compliance
- Environmental Compliance
In addition to compliance with environment-related laws and regulations, the NSK Group does more than merely comply with environmental laws; we adhere to rigorous internal standards that go beyond legal obligations to prevent air and water pollution. In the event of an accident or legal violation that has an impact on the external environment, we promptly report the matter to administrative authorities, investigate the cause, and implement measures to prevent recurrence.
- Environmental Audits
Regular internal audits and third-party audits are conducted at each site around the world. Additionally, the NSK Head Office’s environment-related divisions and regional headquarters conduct audits designed to prevent oil leakages and spills, ensure compliance with environmental laws, and properly manage waste and environmentally harmful substances.
Environmental audit (Europe)
- Remediating Soil and Groundwater Pollution
The NSK Group completely eliminated the use of chlorinated organic solvents by fiscal 2003. However, we are continuing to clean up six sites where past use has left traces of contamination in soil and groundwater. We regularly monitor groundwater and report our progress to agencies.
Other Initiatives
- Environmental Education and Training
The NSK Group recognizes that the key to increasing the effectiveness of environmental protection initiatives is for every employee to perform their daily work based on sound knowledge. This is why we constantly work to raise employees’ environmental awareness and provide rank-based training to deepen knowledge. This consists of general environmental training for all new employees, environmental e-learning focused on different themes and conducted several times a year for all employees, and training tailored to different objectives for the environmental managers in each department.
Excerpt from “Carbon Neutrality” e-learning program